The National Police, in charge of investigating the attempted murder of the former leader of the Popular Party in Catalonia Alejo Vidal-Quadras, currently has more doubts than certainties about everything that surrounds the shooting that the 78-year-old politician received last Thursday in The center of madrid. The investigation is inclined to follow the direction set by the politician, who attributed the attack to Iran due to the relationship he maintains with the regime's dissidents. However, police sources insist that other hypotheses related to economic affairs with – precisely – the Iranian opposition itself are not ruled out.
The few certainties that the Police have, for now, have to do with the fact that the attack was an attempted “crime for hire” at the hands of a hitman who, apparently, did not act alone. Criminal organizations often turn to these types of criminals to settle outstanding scores. Sometimes to give you a warning; others to execute it. In this case, the weapon used and the type of shot – point-blank against the skull – make investigators think that the gunman's final objective was to end the life of one of the founders of Vox.
To support this theory, the agents are viewing the recordings of the security cameras of businesses in the area to check if the alleged attackers were hanging around the area in the previous days to study the ideal moment in which to commit the contracted crime. At the same time, they try to find some clue with which to try to identify the perpetrators of the murder attempt, who planned the escape to the millimeter.
After shooting Vidal-Quadras – and despite the fact that they did not ensure that they had finished him; something that does not quite add up to the investigators either – the gunman got into a black Yamaha in which the driver was waiting for him. From there they fled at full speed towards the south of Madrid along the Toledo highway. Until they reached a vacant lot in Fuenlabrada where, according to suspicions, a second vehicle was waiting for them with which to continue their escape. The motorcycle was found by agents hours later completely burned.
It is at this point that researchers are overcome with a certain pessimism. According to police sources, it is feared that the hitmen have resorted to one of the methods most used by criminal organizations dedicated to drug transportation; the so-called go fast. It consists of the use of a couple of vehicles that exceed 200 kilometers per hour – commonly rented from rental companies in Germany or Poland or with false license plates – to reach France as soon as possible. And there, the trail is lost. The Yamaha, according to the investigation, was previously used by a French criminal who has an arrest warrant for murder. Despite all this, the Police say they do not lose hope of finding them.
As for who could have hired the hitmen to assassinate Vidal-Quadras, for now the main avenue of investigation is what was verbalized by the victim herself who warned of her links with the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), despite because he had never informed the Police of any type of threats. The Iranian embassy in Spain, after learning of the event, dissociated itself from it – although without making express mention of it.
It is not the only hypothesis on the table, once the attempted robbery that was initially considered has been ruled out. According to police sources, it is also being considered that the politician could be involved in other matters of an economic nature with Iranian connections as well.
Vidal-Quadras assured in an interview with El País in 2019 that CNRI financed the beginnings – of which he was a part – of the far-right party led by Santiago Abascal with almost one million euros.
