Little is known of Enriqueta Martí i Ripollés before she arrived in Barcelona in the early years of the 19th Century. What is known is that she did not arrive alone. She brought with her a brutal penchant for survival and an equally fierce desire to rise above a poverty that she would soon sadistically twist to her advantage. She preyed on young children from Barcelona’s destitute Raval Quarter. She would prostitute them to the pedophiles and deviants who had for so long protected and frequented her brothels. She could at once appear impoverished, dressed in rags to entice her prey and then as evening fell, attend the lavish galas of the El Liceu (Barcelona Opera House) as gentry. She continued unabated before finally being discovered in 1912 by a vigilant neighbor who alerted police.
