A 27-year-old man has been arrested at his home in Esplugues de Llobregat (Barcelona) where he is alleged to have killed his 28 year old wife and his 3 year old daughter on Monday morning.

According to the Catalan police, the double homicide occurred at 6:10 am this morning, when the man, of Spanish nationality and resident of Esplugues, killed his wife and daughter at the family home.

The Mossos d’Esquadra moved in to the house, together with the Esplugues Local Police, where they have arrested the alleged perpetrator of the double crime. The 27-year-old has since been admitted to a hospital suffering from an undisclosed injury.

The Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) has said that there is no judicial record of violence between the couple. The bodies were removed from the house early in the morning and the detainee will be brought to justice in the next few days.

The president of the Generalitat, Quim Torra, said he is “horrified and outraged” and has said that everyone must work hard to end this scourge.

“Stunning and horrified. And outraged. We have only been six days a year and in Catalonia we already have two victims of gender violence. We have to work hard across all fronts,” he said in a Twitter post .

Last year Spain saw its worst year for gender violence deaths since 2015. A total of 55 women lost their lives at the hands of their partners or ex-partners in 2019, with the number of victims passing the macabre milestone of 1,000 since records began.