The President of the Diputación of León has been shot dead in the city square by another woman this evening.
59 year old Isabel Carrasco had just left the main square and was crossing the pedestrian bridge over the river Bernesga when a 35 year old woman walked up to her and shot her three times. She was allegedly encouraged by her Mother, (55).
The 35 year old woman was quickly arrested as she fled, and was later identified as the daughter of the Chief of Police of León. Her Mother is the wife of the Police Inspector. The gun used has not been found, but police divers are searching for it as it is believed to be in the river.
Police say that the motive appears to be revenge after the 35 year old was fired from her job in the Diputación, for reasons that are not clear.
The politician was also the head of the PP party in the province, and was implicated in a corruption case involving the theft of public funds.
The PP have suspended their electioneering for today and tomorrow, and the President of Spain, Mariano Rajoy, has flown to Leon to visit the family of the deceased.
Mariano Rajoy has also ordered that all high politicians (irrespective of party) across the region of Castilla y Leon be given personal police bodyguards for the next few days.
The Diputación is roughly equivalent to a county council in the UK, although in reality they’re a bureaucratic irrelevance left over from the 19th century that Spain can’t seem to get rid of. They tend to be in charge of national infrastructure the local regions don’t want, and try to coordinate townhalls towards a common goal.