Spanish minister sent death threat with bloody knife

OVIEDO, Spain

Spanish Tourism Minister Reyes Maroto confirmed on Monday that someone sent her a death threat and a knife with, what appears to be, blood on it.

“You can imagine how hard it is,” she told the press after leaving the police station where she denounced the letter. “But these types of acts only give more strength to those who are threatened.”

Maroto is the fourth high-profile victim of similar death threats in less than a week in Spain.

Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska and María Gámez, the first female head of the Civil Guard police force, were all mailed packages with death threats and bullets.

“Your time is running out,” read the letter sent to Iglesias, which threatened not only his life but those of his family members.

“You have ten days to resign. Your days of laughing at us are over,” the letter to Marlaska read.

All the death threats were anonymous.

Police are investigating the source of the violent packages, which appear to be sent from Madrid. No arrests have been made so far.

The company that was contracted to screen the mail has also been put under investigation for failing to flag the packages with the bullets, which were clearly seen in an X-ray.

The knife sent to Maroto was hidden between two CDs, making detection more difficult.

The four figures who have been threatened have amped up their personal security.

The threats have marked the Madrid regional election campaign, where Iglesias is running to lead Spain’s capital region and Maroto has been proposed as a vice-premier if the Socialist candidate Angel Gabilondo wins.

Last week, the three left-wing candidates walked out of a debate in which Rocío Monasterio, a candidate from the far-right party Vox, refused to condemn the death threats, saying she didn’t believe they were real.

All of Spain's major parties, including Vox, have condemned the latest death threat.