The murder of the Canarian student Claudia Tacoronte, assaulted and stabbed on Saturday in Cuautla, Mexico, is the fourth of a student from the Autonomous University of Morelos (UAEM). Three other young women, all Mexican, disappeared and their bodies were found lifeless days later. Sources from the University of Granada state that they were unaware of these deaths.
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Claudia Tacoronte, 21 years old, was studying the 4th year of Early Childhood Education at the University of Granada, a campus she arrived at from Gran Canaria, where she was born and completed the 1st year of Education before moving to the Andalusian university. This semester she was taking her training in Cuernavaca, in the Mexican state of Morelos, south of Mexico City.
Her tutor: “On Friday I spoke with her, she was very happy, everything was going very well, she looked excited”
The Canarian student had arrived “with great enthusiasm” in Cuernavaca a month ago. Her death occurred on Saturday, September 12, after a stabbing robbery near the Casa de Cultura de Cuautla where the Traditional Medicine Fair was being held, in which her university participated. The main hypothesis handled by the Prosecutor’s Office is that she was assaulted with the intention of being robbed. When the ambulance arrived, the girl had already lost her life.
The murder of the first victims from the Morelos campus occurred between February and March of this same year with a two-week difference. Both disappeared previously and were last seen on campus.
On February 20, Kimberly Joselin Ramos, 18 years old, disappeared after arriving at the Faculty of Accounting and Business Administration. That day she informed her mother that she had already entered the Chamilpa Campus (Cuernavaca). After that message, all communication was lost and she did not return home. Ten days later, her body was found in a rustic area of Chamilpa and a man was arrested as a probable suspect. At her home, the young woman’s ID and handbag were found.
Kimberly and Karol were 18 years old and disappeared two weeks apart
While the case was still under investigation, on March 2 the disappearance of Karol Toledo Gómez, also 18 years old and a Law student, was reported. She disappeared after leaving an exam. Her body was found three days later in Coatetelco, 37 kilometers south of Cuernavaca. Several citizens alerted the authorities about the presence of a body with signs of violence wrapped in plastic bags in the area known as Las Minas, in Coatetelco. Hours later, forensic studies confirmed her identity.
Last June, Michelle Itzayana Fuentes, 15 years old, was found dead in Yautepec. The young woman, a high school student at UAEM, went out to look for a poster board on May 24 and disappeared.
The protest by university students due to these femicides lasted for days, locking themselves in the rectorate to demand protection measures. They recalled that in Mexico 10 women die daily due to gender-based violence. According to data from the 2025 Justice Procurement Census, there were 4,523 cases of femicide, completed or attempted, in prosecutor’s offices nationwide. Only 15% reach trial.
UAEM has about 40,000 students and international mobility programs with agreements with several universities such as Granada. Currently, there are 27 students from the Andalusian university in Mexico.
“Many go to Mexico and nothing happens”
The University of Granada (UGR) was unaware that three deaths had occurred in Morelos before sending its students to the exchange program. Tacoronte was the only student at this university. For the next semester, the visit of three more students has been canceled and they will be offered new destinations. No one in Morelos informed UGR of these femicides, which were followed by strong protests on campus. Both campuses signed the agreement in 2023. Currently, there are 27 students from the Andalusian university in Mexico and all have been given the option to return, but they have declined. The Spanish consulate in Mexico warns of increased violence linked to drug trafficking in that area, as well as the possibility of kidnappings. It advises caution and avoiding travel at night. On Monday morning, the dean of the Faculty of Education, Katia Caballero, stated: “Many students have traveled to Mexico or other Latin American countries and nothing has happened. We are very sorry. We are broken.”
Tacoronte had been in Mexico since August to adapt to the country. The coordinator of the Bilingual Primary Education degree and Tacoronte’s exchange tutor, Magdalena Ramos, explained that on Friday night she spoke with her, the day before her death. The young woman contacted her to raise some academic doubts and, by the way, to tell her how her stay was going. “She was very happy. Everything was going very well,” she recounts. The professor described her as a very cheerful and affectionate girl who was “very excited” about her stay in Mexico.
The rector, Pedro Mercado, has expressed his “deep sadness” and “institutional anger” over this murder and has informed that the other UGR students in Mexico will receive all necessary assistance, including the possibility of facilitating their return to Spain.
The Consulate General of Spain in Mexico City maintains constant communication with Mexican judicial authorities, who are working to clarify the circumstances of this death, which according to the Morelos prosecutor, Fernando Blumenkron, is being treated as a femicide.
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