A British woman and her partner have been arrested by police investigating an assassination attempt on veteran Spanish politician Alejo Vidal-Quadras in Madrid.
The couple were arrested in the town of Lanjaron, the gateway to the picture-postcard Alpujarras region, this morning after another man was arrested in the Costa Del Sol.
Mr Vidal-Quadras cheated death after being shot in the face in broad daylight on a central street in the Spanish capital on November 9.
The victim, former regional leader of the right-wing Popular Party in Catalonia before breaking away to help form the far-right Vox party, told police from his hospital bed he blamed Iran for the shooting because of his ties with the country’s opposition.
Police sources said this afternoon they were working on the theory that the partner of the Brit had hired a paid assassin to murder Vidal-Quadras.
They are said to be closing in on a North African hitman allegedly paid to carry out the crime, Granada-based newspaper Ideal reported. It has not been made clear if investigators believe the unnamed British woman knew about her partner’s suspected involvement.
The other arrest is understood to have taken place in the Costa del Sol resort of Fuengirola.
Detectives suspect he organised the assassination attempt at the ‘request of other people’, Ideal claimed citing sources close to the ongoing investigation.
A police source confirmed this morning the British woman was one of the three people arrested. They said: ‘Her possible participation in the crime is being investigated. She is the partner of one of the other two detainees.’
A Spanish National Police spokesman said this afternoon: ‘All three people held earlier today remain in custody. There is nothing more we can say at this time.’
Hellbound and Down 