Two minors arrested over murder of man in Manresa

Two minors have been arrested in connection with the fatal stabbing of a 45-year-old man in Manresa on Tuesday. 

The victim was a resident of Castellnou de Bages and a well-known person in the region. The events took place at around 5.10 am on Tuesday morning, and the alleged perpetrators are 15 and 16 years old.

As part of the investigation, police searched an apartment on Travessera dels Drets in the city. Outside, there were riot vans and forensic police were also dispatched, while authorities have not ruled more searches.

The events took place during the Festa Major in Manresa. The city council has decreed a day of official mourning and has called for a minute of silence on Wednesday.

In an interview with Catalunya Ràdio, Catalonia's Interior Minister, Núria Parlon pointed out that the two arrested were born in Catalonia.

The minister criticized the coopting of a "very serious" and painful event to generate "hatred" by making "opportunistic and xenophobic" associations, in response to messages spread by far-right politicians such as Ignacio Garriga (Vox) or Sílvia Orriols (Aliança Catalana).

Parlon specified that both detainees were born in Catalonia, while one of them had Catalan parents and the other immigrant parents.

She warned against "manipulating information" to spread hatred, and added that the detainees were not unaccompanied minors nor did they live in any juvenile centre.

Parlon regretted the events and expressed condolences to the victim's family, friends, and neighbors in the town.

At this time, the first hypotheses indicate that the events followed a fight between four or five people on each side and ended with the serious incident.

Parlon assured that work is being done to remove bladed weapons from public spaces and indicated that the police must do their job in the investigation and arrests. However, she warned that in cases such as this, the resolution cannot be "exclusively with police tools."

"We have to reflect on what is happening to us as a society," she said, noting that the minors had families. "In the face of the most worrying violence, this will require other approaches that are not exclusively police."