Nuria’s agoraphobia and trauma

Nuria Otaño’s agoraphobia and trauma are the lasting consequences of years of coercive control by her former husband, Antonio Garrido. Her confinement shapes even ordinary movement: after escaping captivity, she cannot go beyond the garden fence. Her recovery is gradual and supported by her sister, Ana Otaño, but the decisive change comes when Nuria faces the danger of Garrido’s return and discovers that fear no longer governs her choices.

Conditions and Coercive Control

Nuria had married Garrido despite her family’s distrust of him. Within months, he persuaded her to move with him to Murcia under the pretext of work. Contact with her family dwindled; when they did speak to her, she seemed different. Garrido gradually turned the family against one another and severed their relationship with Nuria. Ana later learned that her sister had been kept imprisoned in Garrido’s home for two years, chained like an animal.

The account makes clear that Nuria’s fear did not begin with a single encounter or resolve when she escaped. Garrido had inflicted a fracture and left it untreated; it healed without medical care. When Nuria finally fled and sought help, she weighed only forty kilograms. Her physical condition was severe, but so was the restriction that remained after she was removed from his control: following four months in hospital, she still could not leave the garden enclosure. The novel identifies this as agoraphobia and connects it directly to the violence and captivity she had endured.

A separate account elsewhere in the investigation describes another woman whose husband controlled her through isolation, surveillance, restrictions on her appearance and movement, and the threat that he would find and kill her if she left. That testimony concerns a different victim, not Nuria. Its parallel lies in the pattern of domination: abuse is shown not only through bodily injury, but through the gradual removal of a woman’s independence and safe relationships.

Return to the Family Home

After escaping Garrido, Nuria returned to her parents’ house, where Ana cared for her. Her mother had died, and their father was living in a care home. Ana describes small signs of improvement during this period: Nuria’s eyes began to brighten, and the hair hidden beneath her woollen hat began to grow back. These changes do not mean she has recovered her freedom of movement. She remains unable to go beyond the garden, and even a medical appointment is difficult for Ana to arrange.

The threat of Garrido’s return reopens that danger. A judge granted him leave from prison, and he called Nuria to say he would come for her. When Ana later searched the house for her sister, she found her curled inside a clothes dryer, unable at first to come out. Ana had to persuade her for more than fifteen minutes, then bathe and dress her and get her into the car. Nuria’s hiding place gives the fear a concrete form: even inside her own home, the anticipated return of her former husband has made her retreat into an enclosed space.

Ana’s Support and Nuria’s Preparation

Ana does not treat Nuria’s terror as a reason to dismiss her capacity to act. On the drive, Nuria repeatedly insisted that Garrido would kill her and that nothing could be done. Ana took her first to a funeral home and asked her to choose a coffin if she had already decided to die. Nuria stopped crying and told her sister she did not want to die. Ana then took her to the woods to practise shooting.

They returned on successive days, firing at bottles, cans, and other recycling until their ammunition ran out. At first Nuria trembled and could scarcely hit a target at close range. With repeated practice, her aim improved, and Ana began to see a change in her sister’s bearing. She describes Nuria as having previously seemed like a fragile puppet, always on the verge of breaking; now, for the first time, she appeared strong. Ana encouraged her to move in with her, but did not force the decision. Nuria chose to remain in the house, and Ana accepted that feeling capable of choosing for herself mattered.

Confrontation and Change

When Garrido came back, Nuria shot him. The scene’s aftermath is physically stark: blood marks the route toward the living room, and an officer examines the bloody remains. Jonan Etxaide reports that Garrido had soiled himself when she fired. The detail reverses the relation of terror that had defined their history: the man who had kept Nuria captive is now the one exposed as afraid.

Amaia Salazar asks Nuria whether she can answer questions, and Nuria says she is well. When asked whether she will stay in the house or go with Ana, she chooses to remain where she lives. Amaia advises that a police patrol will be posted at the door but says it would be safer to stay with her sister. Nuria refuses the suggestion, explaining that Garrido will not return because he now knows she is not afraid of him. The narrative does not claim that her agoraphobia has disappeared or that the trauma is over. Instead, it marks a specific change: despite the confinement that still limits her life, Nuria can make a decision about where to stay and speak of herself as no longer ruled by Garrido’s threat.