Xàbia mourns Gabriel Sapena Salines, peace judge for 16 years and founder of a well-known electrical goods store

Xàbia mourns the loss of Gabriel Sapena Salines, a resident who combined commercial activity with service to the local peace judiciary for decades. His death, at the age of 86, was announced on Friday 9 October 2026.

Sapena held the position of peace judge of the municipality between 2009 and April 2025, a period of sixteen years in which he completed four consecutive terms. In April 2021 the municipal council re-elected him unanimously to begin his final period at the head of this office. One month before the end of his term, in 2025, Xàbia Town Hall gave the green light to the appointment of Isabel Nadal Torres as his successor in the peace judiciary.

A family business with more than six decades of history

Aside from his institutional career, Sapena founded the family business Gabriel Sapena Electrodomésticos, which started in 1958 as a modest radio repair workshop set up in his own home. The project became established in 1984 with the opening of a shop at number 2 Sant Pere Màrtir street, in the heart of Xàbia's historic centre, an establishment he launched together with his wife, Vicenta.

In March 2005, Sapena decided to retire and transferred the management of the shop, which was part of the Euronics chain, to his daughter Vicen and his son-in-law Cristóbal, who continued at the helm of the family business.

Farewell this Saturday

The funeral service will take place this Saturday 10 October. The viewing will begin at 10:00 in room 1 of Xàbia Funeral Home, whilst the funeral mass is scheduled for 18:00 at the Church of San Bartolomé in the municipality.