Spanish minister receives red-stained-knife death threat

MADRID, April 26 (Xinhua) -- Spanish Minister for Industry, Trade and Tourism Reyes Maroto said on Monday that she had been sent a letter containing a knife covered in red stains.

Maroto received the knife just days after Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, former Deputy Prime Minister Pablo Iglesias, and Maria Gamez, head of Spain's Civil Guard, each received packages containing threatening letters and four bullets.

Maroto's ministry published a photo of the wooden-handled folding knife and the minister spoke to reporters outside of the parliament, saying "this is serious... We should be concerned."

She said police were investigating who could have sent the package and added that this and last week's threats "give us more strength to defend democracy. Hatred and threats will not silence us."

Spain's Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez condemned the serious threat in a tweet in which he wrote "Enough! We are not going to allow this. We are not going to allow hatred to take over coexistence in Spain."

The threats have been received in the context of an increasingly bitter election campaign ahead of the May 4 elections for the regional government of the Community of Madrid.

On Friday, Iglesias, who stepped down from his cabinet role to become the candidate for his Unidas Podemos party, walked out of an electoral debate on radio station Cadena SER, after Rocio Monesterio, the candidate for the far-right Vox party, refused to condemn the death threat he has received and even implied the letter was fake.