Former mayor of Serranía de Ronda village formally reports being raped in 2006

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Soraya García Mesa revealed a few days ago that she was sexually assaulted by a Guardia Civil officer some 20 years ago and outlined her reasons for not reporting it sooner

Antonio M. Romero

Ronda

Monday, 22 December 2025, 10:56

Soraya García Mesa, who served as mayor of Benaoján between 2007 and 2009 and again between 2015 and 2023, has filed a complaint with the Guardia Civil regarding the rape she alleges she suffered in 2006 at the hands of a member of the same force. This was confirmed to SUR by García Mesa, who is also a member of PSOE's provincial executive committee. She made this incident public on 11 December during a debate on local radio regarding the ongoing sexual harassment cases involving Spanish politicians. She is a regular contributor on the COPE radio network in Malaga.

García Mesa also posted the news to her social media accounts, announcing that she had taken an "important" step on Thursday by officially filing the complaint and thanking the Guardia Civil team for their "humane and respectful" treatment of her "on what was a particularly tough day". This step was taken after consulting with her lawyers about the possibility of pursuing legal action now.

"All that remains now is to await the court ruling, with the peace of mind that comes from having done the right thing. Meanwhile, I find refuge in my people, feeling that, although they are not all visible in the photo, many other hands are with me." These were the words in her post, along with a photograph illustrating many hands overlapping and coming together as a gesture of support and unity.

"All that remains now is to await the court ruling, with the peace of mind that comes from having done the right thing," she says

The events in question date back to the end of 2006, months before she first headed the PSOE candidates' list and was elected mayor of Benaoján. According to García Mesa, as former mayor and now a councillor in her municipality, she could not imagine that "a person who was supposed to protect me would do this to me" and, moreover, to do so in an environment where, first and foremost, she should feel safe.

"I went over this in my head some 50,000 times as to what I had done wrong for that to happen to me", explained García Mesa when speaking about what happened. She added that her alleged sexual attacker was dismissed from the Guardia Civil years ago and is now involved in politics, initially as a member of the Vox party in Ronda and currently as a member of another party that she declined to name, although she did say that "it's not the PP".

Her reasons for not reporting this sooner

Regarding the reasons that led her to not report the assault at the time, Soraya García Mesa argued that she did not do so because "I didn't dare" for fear of "the public exposure" that her family, friends and colleagues would suffer and the parallel social judgement. "I could handle it", was her thinking.

Furthermore, she added that she was "afraid" because her alleged attacker was a person who, because of his profession, carried a weapon "and, if he had done what he did to me, I had no doubt that he was capable of anything". She claimed that he later "tried to harass me so I wouldn't tell anyone what had happened".

It was two years after the events took place that someone who asked her about what had happened reported the incident to the relevant authorities and an internal investigation was opened within the Guardia Civil. García Mesa explained that, during this investigation, she was interviewed by a forensic psychologist to determine the veracity of her account and "what I had said had happened was confirmed". She also noted that "it was corroborated" that there were more victims.

"The man in question was removed from the force, but not because of these events. Rather, they gave him a dignified exit so the matter would not become public,"she stated. She then admitted that she has been undergoing psychological treatment for three years after learning that her alleged attacker was involved in politics in the Serranía de Ronda area.

Soraya García Mesa declined to reveal the man's identity. "I don't say his name for lacking the courage to do so, but because this person has a family - an ex-wife and daughters - and I don't want his family to suffer what they shouldn't have to. I'm keeping it quiet to protect these people", she stressed, while also encouraging women who have experienced similar attacks to report them.