Ex-mayor is assassinated in Valencia: Body of Arturo Torro is found ‘shot and strangled’ by his car following drive-by attack

A MURDER inquiry has been opened after the body of former Gandia mayor, Arturo Torro, was found by his car on Wednesday night.

62-year-old Torro was discovered by his wife Marian at around 11.30pm- dumped in a ditch on the N-332 in Xeresa- a few metres away from his Mercedes.

Guardia Civil officers discovered a bullet in his chest and signs of strangulation.

Torro phoned Marian to say that he was being followed and that his tyres had been punctured- prompting her to drive out to help him.

Investigators are analysing traffic cameras to check on a suspicious vehicle that passed through the area where the assassination took place.

Arturo Torro became Gandia’s first Partido Popular mayor between 2011 and 2015 and though his party topped the vote in the 2015 elections, he was ousted from power via a coalition between the Socialist and Compromis parties.

Prior to entering politics, Torro created the optical franchise Grupo Vision in the 1990s which opened more than 350 stores in 20 countries making him the youngest businessman in Spain to hold the largest number of operating franchises in the country.

In recent years he set up Angels Vision- a franchise with shops across Spain selling glasses and hearing aids.

In April 2023, he was given a three year and six month prison sentence plus a six year and six month ban from public office after being convicted of corruption during his time as Gandia mayor.

This involved the awarding of audiovisual communication service contracts in the city between 2012 and 2015.

A Valencia court ruled that Torro was ‘an official with decision-making power and the capacity to dispose of public funds’.

Torro had been pending the execution of the prison sentence.