Three arrests after attack on far-right politician in Spain

Madrid, Nov 21, (dpa/GNA) – Three suspects have been arrested in Spain, a week and a half after a gun attack on the co-founder of the far-right party Vox, Alejo Vidal-Quadras.

Two arrests were made in Granada and the third in Málaga, the state television station RTVE and other media reported on Tuesday, citing the police. The authorities later confirmed the arrests.

The 78-year-old Vidal-Quadras was shot and wounded in the street in Madrid on November 9. The State Court in Madrid has since taken over the investigation, due to the possibility that it had been a terrorist attack.

After his treatment in hospital, Vidal-Quadras said that the attack, could be linked to his relations with the Iranian opposition.

The former member of the European Parliament, who is also a fierce critic of his own country’s left-wing government, was shot in the face by an unknown person.

Spanish media reports from Tuesday suggest the people arrested during the previous night, are two women and one man, with all three being Spanish citizens.

Before founding the right-wing populist Vox at the end of 2013, Vidal-Quadras was a long-time member of the conservative People’s Party (PP), and at times its leader in Catalonia. Between 1999 and 2014, he represented the PP in the European Parliament, where he served as a vice-president.

GNA