An Irish tourist suspected of murdering his girlfriend at a Spanish holiday hotel has been driven to court in a police van.
The unnamed 30-year-old will appear shortly before a judge for questioning in a behind-closed-doors hearing. He is expected to be remanded in prison pending an ongoing investigation.
Police declined to comment on reports the suspect, said to be from the north Dublin area, had previously been arrested in Ireland alongside Kinahan cartel hitman Caolan Smyth.
Smyth is currently serving a 20-year jail term for the attempted murder of Hutch associate James ‘Mago’ Gately and is appealing that sentence.
Read more: Irish woman found dead in hotel corridor in Spain as man arrested on suspicion of murder
Wednesday's court appearance comes nearly 72 hours after the suspect’s arrest at the four-star Magnolia Hotel in the Costa Dorada holiday resort of Salou.
He was held on Sunday night after being found with a “self-inflicted” wrist wound alongside the body of his partner, said to have been strangled with a ligature, in a corridor outside their second-floor room at the adults’-only hotel one street back from the seafront.
Police took him to hospital in the provincial capital Tarragona for treatment before transferring him to a city police HQ where he was held for two nights.
Reports on Tuesday said he was refusing to co-operate and had “slowed” police attempts to contact the dead woman’s next-of-kin by declining to give them any information.
A spokesman for the regional Mossos d’Esquadra police force said on Wednesday: “The man arrested on Sunday following the discovery of a woman’s body at a hotel in Salou has been taken to court. This matter is now one for the courts and we will not be making any further comment."
Speaking on Monday hours after the arrest, 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.”
The suspect can refuse to answer questions put to him in court under Spanish law. Only trials are held in public in Spain and today’s hearing will not be open to the press and public.
The nearest prison to the court in Tarragona where he has been taken is Mas d’Enric Prison. But a well-placed source said: “Providing he does get remanded in custody pending an ongoing investigation, he could be taken to any one of a number of jails.
“Mas d’Enric is the closest to the court but the decision on where he might end up doesn’t always depend on proximity.”
In their only official statement so far, cops said on Monday: “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 on Sunday 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.”
They went on to confirm the arrested man was 30, with sources close to the investigation later confirming both the woman and the detainee were Irish.
A minute’s silence was held for the unnamed victim on Monday evening at Salou Town Hall. Mayor Pere Granados and the regional government’s Minister for Equality Tania Verge were among those who took part.
Confirming the Salou killing was being treated as a gender-related crime, the department Tania heads said: “A new feminicide is confirmed in Salou.
“It is the seventh registered in Catalonia in 2023. We will not stop until we can all live free from male violence. If you need it ask for help.”
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