The Vampire of Barcelona: The True Story of Enriqueta Martí

The Vampire of Barcelona: The True Story of Enriqueta Martí In February 1912, Barcelona police rescued a kidnapped girl from a squalid apartment in the city's notorious El Raval district. The apartment's occupant, Enriqueta Martí, was immediately branded "The Vampire of Barcelona" by the sensationalist press, accused of murdering dozens of children to drink their blood and prepare occult remedies for wealthy clients. But the truth behind the vampire mythology is far more disturbing than gothic horror—it reveals systematic elite exploitation of vulnerable children, institutional corruption protecting powerful predators, and the scapegoating of a working-class woman while aristocratic clients escaped investigation entirely. This meticulously researched account separates fact from fiction in one of Spain's most notorious criminal cases. Drawing on archival documents, forensic analysis, and comparative historical research, it exposes how sensational journalism, police manipulation, and political calculation constructed a monster narrative that obscured the probable reality: an organized child trafficking network serving Barcelona's elite, with Martí as the expendable intermediary. From Martí's poverty-stricken background through her suspicious death before trial, from the bone evidence scandal to modern scholarly revision, this book reconstructs what can be known about the case while honestly acknowledging what remains uncertain—and explains why Martí's secrets were buried with her in an unmarked grave at Montjuïc cemetery.