Mari Luz Cortés did not die in vain. The fallout from this case is apparently going to create a major revision of the criminal justice system in Spain, notorious for its slowness and lackadaisical effectiveness. The man who confessed to Mari Luz’s murder, Santiago del Valle, had two sentences against him for child abuse, one against his own five-year-old daughter, and should have been in prison when he allegedly killed Mari Luz. The same applies, slightly differently, to his wife, who was sentenced for aiding & abetting and is presently in prison serving a previous sentence. Del Valle’s sister is also in custody charged with aiding & abetting her brother by transporting Mari Luz’s body to the river wetlands near where the child was found almost 3 months after she disappeared.

Mari Luz’s father has since become an icon of patience and quiet desperation. He has called for those who are responsible for Del Valle being on the streets when he should have been in prison, to be pointed out and held responsible. Needless to say, the buck is being passed up and down the many levels of the judicial system. The Sevilla judge who should have ordered Del Valle’s earlier sentenced carried out is presently under investigation for neglect of his duties. So is the clerk who the judge blamed for not putting the matter before him, although that does not apparently excuse him.

In the meantime, many of the most important cities in Spain have been undergoing a pay strike by court clerks and workers, which has put the already excessive backlog into an overload that will by some estimates take between three to six months to clear. The strike affects both criminal and civil cases.