Court sets €80,000 bail for partner of architect Josep Juanpere in Baqueira homicide probe

Bail granted in homicide investigation

On 25 September 2026, the Court of First Instance in Vielha ordered provisional detention for Belén López, eludible upon payment of an €80,000 bail. López, aged 64, deposited the funds within two hours and secured provisional release alongside a prohibition on leaving Spain. The ruling followed her arrest on 23 September in Madrid by the Mossos d'Esquadra in a coordinated operation with the National Police and the Guardia Civil, who searched her residence in Málaga. The judicial proceedings remain under summary secrecy while investigators examine suspected homicide and omission of the duty to assist. López is a member of an entrepreneurial family that owns the Finca Cortesín resort in Casares, Málaga.

Sequence of events in Baqueira

The inquiry focuses on the death of 72-year-old Barcelona architect Josep Juanpere on 26 December 2025 at his holiday apartment in Baqueira. Two days earlier, following dinner on Christmas Eve, Juanpere experienced acute dizziness and severe vomiting, which required treatment at the Hospital Val d'Aran. López stated to authorities that Juanpere felt unwell after consuming black truffle for breakfast, causing him to faint and hit a radiator. Medical staff discharged Juanpere with two head stitches after ruling out requests by López for a CT scan and a stomach pump. Following discharge on 25 December, Juanpere booked three rooms at a hotel for the couple, his nephew, and a nurse before returning to his apartment that afternoon.

Autopsy findings and emergency response

Investigators established that Juanpere remained completely cut off from friends and family during a 24-hour period ending on the afternoon of 26 December. That afternoon, Juanpere's nephew arrived at the residence after failing to establish contact with his uncle. After knocking persistently for nearly an hour, the nephew entered the apartment and found Juanpere deceased on a sofa while López was in shock and practising yoga. The nephew alerted emergency services through 112, an action López had neglected to take. Although an initial forensic analysis pointed to a heart attack, subsequent autopsy examinations uncovered internal cervical injuries compatible with external force on the neck. The court treats these traumatic neck lesions as a possible intermediate cause of death.

Key testimony and case progress

Judicial authorities had previously withdrawn López's passport in January 2026 due to unresolved questions surrounding her account of the events. On 25 September 2026, Juanpere's nephew woke from a medically induced coma in a Barcelona hospital, where he had been treated for over a week for a pulmonary ailment. His awakening provides investigators with access to a crucial witness who shared dinner with the couple on 24 December and later discovered the body. Juanpere was a prominent figure in Barcelona, having co-founded the firm GCA Architects with Antonio Puig. His portfolio included the headquarters of the Puig group in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, the Cuatrecasas offices in Barcelona, and the Mango logistics hub in Lliçà de Munt.