Fear, sadness, rejection, and even some embarrassment over what happened. That is the atmosphere felt this Tuesday in Isla Cristina (21,617 inhabitants, Huelva) after the shooting on Sunday night that ended the lives of three people on Valverde del Camino street, in the Rocío neighborhood. The residents remain shocked in this town in Huelva, accustomed to living with problems linked to drug trafficking, but that did not expect this recent episode of extreme violence.
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Three people died after the shooting, including a pregnant woman and a minor; two others were injured, one seriously. The main hypothesis of the investigation ―declared secret― is that it is a settling of scores between family clans. Many neighbors refuse to comment on the crime: “I don’t want to see this in flames tomorrow,” says the owner of a business. The responses reflect concern about the triple homicide and the desire not to get involved in a conflict derived from the confrontation that since 2024 has been maintained between two family clans (Los Salazar and Los Moriña) opposed after a shooting occurred in the Huelva neighborhood of El Torrejón.
This Tuesday, Valverde del Camino street has regained an appearance of normality. Some families, few, come in and out of their homes in a humble, maritime, and hardworking neighborhood. Most neighbors say they had never witnessed anything like this. “This working-class neighborhood is a humble neighborhood, but of good people,” explains María José (fictitious name), 67 years old. “It’s not a problematic neighborhood, it never causes problems. There are all kinds of people here. There are people with degrees, lawyers, nurses. What happened is not from people here. It’s people from outside and has nothing to do with the families of the neighborhood.”
The same idea is repeated over and over during the morning. The neighbors insist on separating the daily life of the neighborhood from events they consider exceptional. “This came from Huelva. It’s not from here,” says Juan Manuel (fictitious name), 67 years old. “Here we live with all kinds of people. It’s a normal neighborhood. We have had a very hard time because this is not seen every day. Everyone was having dinner or enjoying the cool air when it happened.”
The Rocío neighborhood is just a few meters from the Carreras estuary, and boats can be seen from the promenade. It is an area where fishing activity has coexisted for years with drug trafficking. Shipments and police operations are part of the usual news in the area. The problem has grown, and easy money attracts many local young people. This Tuesday, several people mention spotting a drug-running speedboat refueling in broad daylight near an area frequented by bathers. These are episodes that no longer surprise the neighbors too much.
Behind the tragedy lies a conflict that has been dragging on since September 2024. A brawl between members of the Salazar and Moriña families in the Huelva neighborhood of El Torrejón ended in a shooting that left one dead and two injured. The subsequent arrest of the alleged shooter, known as El Baba, did not stop the spiral of reprisals. That crime triggered an open confrontation between both family clans, marked by threats, harassment, shootings at homes, and new violent episodes that over time ended up spreading to Isla Cristina, according to the Civil Guard.
Investigators believe that both a shooting that occurred in June 2025 in Isla Cristina and the attack last Sunday could be related to that chain of revenge, although the case remains under judicial secrecy and other hypotheses are not ruled out. The coastal town is still in the middle of the tourist season, with the market full of visitors and residents especially visiting the fish and seafood stalls. The feeling is that the town has accepted the presence of illicit activities related to drug trafficking, but it is not used to this episode of extreme violence with murders in the middle of the street.
“We have a very big scourge with those who traffic or do things they shouldn’t,” admits Victoriano Martín, 49 years old, a supermarket worker. “But that does not represent the majority. Isla Cristina is a town built on the sea, the countryside, tourism, and work.” Martín was very close to the area when the shots were fired. “I heard the shots and thought they were firecrackers,” he recalls. “I thought it was something related to the Virgin of the Sea festivals, from Punta del Caimán. No one here is used to something like this.”
David (fictitious name) is 73 years old and has worked half a century as a sailor. “I was having dinner with my wife when I heard the shots. I thought they were fireworks for the upcoming Punta del Caimán festivals,” he recalls. “Then my daughter called me and told me they were gunshots. I even lost my appetite.” His indignation grows especially when talking about the victims unrelated to the conflict between the opposing families. “I have never seen anything like this. Killing children who have nothing to do with it. That can’t be.” About the lure that shipments represent for the youth, he adds: “If one earns 1,500 euros a month working and another earns more in a week, many know where they will try to go.”
As the hours pass, the town regains its usual August rhythm. The terraces fill up again. Shops open their shutters. Tourists arrive at the beaches. However, the conversation always ends up returning to the same point: the bursts of gunfire that disturbed Sunday night.
Sara (fictitious name), who admits that the event has caused her fear, concludes: “We have never seen this type of shooting. We have lived it in a terrifying way.” That phrase, repeated over and over in streets, shops, and terraces, is a message repeated a thousand times after the most violent episode that has occurred in Isla Cristina in recent years.
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