It’s over fears Wagner mercenaries are angry following last month’s revolt.
Browsing: EU Featured
Police and emergency services rushed to the four-star hotel in Salou (Picture: SolarPix)
An Irish tourist has been arrested on suspicion of murder after his partner was found strangled to death at a hotel in a Spanish holiday resort.
Police confirmed they held the 30-year-old man on Sunday night after rushing to a hotel in the Costa Dorada resort of Salou and finding her lying lifeless in a corridor.
Her alleged killer, discovered beside her with a ‘self-inflicted’ wrist wound, was taken to hospital where he remained under police guard today.
Sources close to the investigation have confirmed the arrested tourist is Irish like the 36-year-old woman he is suspected of strangling to death.
The same sources also indicated the pair, thought to be from Dublin although this has not been confirmed by officials, were understood to be partners and were sharing the same hotel room.
He allegedly used a cord to strangle her.
A hotel worker is said to have found the victim in one of the corridors trying to escape her suspected killer, according to a local report.
It is believed the man and woman had been staying together in the luxury hotel (Picture: SolarPix)
She is said to have been found dead in the corridor outside her hotel room (Picture: SolarPix)
Staff at the four-star Magnolia Hotel in Salou where the horror incident occurred said they were unable to make any comment.
The alarm was raised around 9.30pm last night.
A spokesman for the regional Mossos d’Esquadra police force said: ‘Officers from the Mossos d’Esquadra’s Criminal Investigation Decision in Tarragona have arrested a man allegedly related to the violent death of a woman in Salou last night.
‘The events occurred around half past nine when the Mossos received a warning from a hotel in Salou saying a woman was seriously injured.
‘When they arrived at the scene, the officers found a woman lying on the floor and a man next to her with a self-inflicted wound.
‘Although emergency medical responders tried to revive the woman, they were finally only able to certify her death.
‘Officers arrested the man as the alleged perpetrator of the death.’
The suspect is under police guard at Joan XXIII Hospital in the city of Tarragona, the capital of the province of the same name.
He is understood to have caused his wrist wound by punching or hitting a pane of glass. Well-placed sources said his injuries were not ‘life-threatening.’
Police have not officially said yet whether they are treating the incident as a ‘domestic violence killing.’
However a spokesman for the Department of Equality and Feminisms of the Catalan regional government called the Generalitat has already condemned the crime and is referring to it as a femicide.
Police have launched an investigation after the incident at the Costa Dorada resort of Salou 70 miles south of Barcelona (Picture: SolarPix)
The department said in a tweet: ‘We are keeping tabs on the femicide in Salou.
‘We are working with the town hall and making our services available to the family and close friends of the victim who need maximum privacy at these difficult moments.’
Tania Verge, the Generalitat’s head of Equality and Feminisms, added: ‘Devastated by a new femicide. All our support to the victim’s family.
‘‘Machismo doesn’t have holidays. On the contrary when couples spend more time together the risk of suffering violence increases.’
Court officials later confirmed a court specialising in violence against women would be tasked with the criminal investigation.
They also said a secrecy order had been placed over the case, which does not prevent reporting of the incident and ongoing probe, but limits the amount of information civil servants including police can give out to media.
It is a common procedure in the early stages of a case and has the objective of legally safeguarding the ongoing criminal probe.
A local judicial official said: ‘Tarragona’s Duty Court proceeded last night to order the removal of the body of a woman who suffered a violent death at a hotel in Salou.
‘The case, which is under judicial secrecy, will be investigated by a court specialising in violence against women.
‘The victim and alleged aggressor are not residents in Spain and therefore it is not possible at this time to state whether there had been previous episodes of violence involving the couple.’
Salou Town Hall will hold a minute’s silence for the Irish woman killed last night at the four-star Magnolia Hotel.
It has already put up a banner with a black ribbon on its HQ.
The town hall said in a tweet: ‘Salou Town Hall condemns last night’s gender violence incident.
‘We urge society to participate in an act of rebuke this evening at 7pm in front of the town hall.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.
The last surviving Frenchman to participate in the Allied invasion of Normandy in 1944 died Monday aged 100, local authorities said.
Climate security is key to understanding instability and fragility in and outside Europe, and this agenda should be treated as the lens through which to redefine the continent’s economic and political agency, Olivia Lazard writes.
Record snowfall is heating up under the sun and turning shades of red.
French rider Victor Lafay made a late move to break away from the pack and give Cofidis its first Tour de France stage win in 15 years on Sunday, with Adam Yates keeping the overall lead after the opening two stages in northern Spain.
Energy giants TotalEnergies and Shell on Sunday defended activities linked to Russia after a critical report into their trading in natural gas despite the war in Ukraine.
A 29 year old Thai elephant that was gifted to Sril Lanka 20 years ago, flew back to his birth country in Thailand after a row about the animal’s alleged mistreatment.
Germany’s far-right AfD notched up another first Sunday when its candidate was elected a full-time town mayor, in a further boost for the anti-immigration party.
Armed officers and large groups of police gathered in Paris on Saturday following four straight nights of rioting and looting across France.
Two people were killed and 28 victims were wounded in a mass shooting, including three people who are in critical condition, police said.
Dutch King Willem-Alexander apologised on Saturday for his country’s role in slavery and asked for forgiveness in a historic speech
French police arrested at least 719 people during a fifth night of uprisings across the country on Saturday night following the funeral of 17-year-old Nahel earlier that day. The interior ministry said that the level of violence appeared to have declined since anger first broke out after the teenager was shot dead by a police officer during a traffic stop in the Paris suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday. Read our live blog for all the latest developments. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).
Russia launched an overnight drone attack on Kyiv after a 12-day break, a Ukrainian military official said on Sunday, with air defence systems destroying all targets on their approach. Follow our live blog for all the latest developments on the war in Ukraine. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said he was “sad” to read a damning report that claimed racism and sexism are rife within English cricket.
Europe’s Euclid space telescope blasted off Saturday, kicking off a first-ever mission to shed light on two of the universe’s greatest mysteries: dark energy and dark matter.
Protests against the government’s proposal to reform the judiciary have gained more momentum in Israel.
The Ukrainian president said Russia is ‘technically ready’ to attack the power station.
The UN Security Council voted unanimously Friday to immediately end its peacekeeping mission in Mali as demanded by the country’s military junta, which has brought in mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group to help fight an Islamic insurgency.
Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond – latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel.
Days of violent protests across France after the fatal police shooting of a teenager have started to impact the country’s tourism sector, with hotels and restaurants facing cancellations while some have also suffered damage in the unrest.
The French government rejected on Friday accusations by the UN of racism among its police, made after a 17-year-old was shot and killed by an officer during a traffic stop. In response to riots rocking cities across the country, 45,000 police were deployed. “In the long term, I think there needs to be a much more constructive response,” lecturer in French Studies Fraser McQueen told FRANCE 24. “The response can’t only be increased policing,” he said.
UNESCO accepts the US back into the fold after a five-year absence
As Pride month draws to a close, activists warn public debate on a number of issues is becoming increasingly polarised and violent.
Talking Europe discusses European security with Gitanas Naus?da, the president of Lithuania. Ahead of next month’s NATO summit in Vilnius, Naus?da urges a collective response to likely Wagner troop movements in Belarus. He also highlights the deployment of a permanent “full-fledged German brigade” in Lithuania and promotes a gradual approach towards European strategic autonomy.