Dismembered body discovered inside suitcase dumped next to rubbish bin in Barcelona

Municipal cleaning service workers Vilanova i la Geltrú, in Barcelona, found the body of a dismembered person inside a suitcase that was next to a rubbish bin early Saturday morning in Plaza del Enxaneta square in the town, according to police sources. Local media in Vilanova i la Geltrú have reported that a 24-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the macabre discovery. Apparently, the detained lived with the victim in a squatted flat in Calle Lepant, where the death appears to have happened.

The arrest was made after a chase by the Vilanova Local Police when the suspect tried to flee the scene. Mossos d'Esquadra regional police force, with officers from the criminal investigation division and the forensic branch, who took charge of the investigation.

The events unfolded after the 112 emergeny service received a call from someone in the neighbourhood alerting them to the strange movements of a person carrying a suitcase, which a cleaning worker later opened to find the body. When the Mossos arrived at the scene, they inspected the suitcase and confirmed that there was a dead person inside.

The Mossos have arrested the victim's flatmate, whose identity is still unknown. Everything suggests that they were among a group of people squatting in the flat in a block of flats in Calle Lepant where, according to initial information, the death occurred. Everything indicates that it was not a natural death. The autopsy of the body will be key to clarifying how and when this person died.

The discovery of the body in the suitcase has worried local residents neighbours. It appears to be the second violent death in the same neighbourhood in just nine days. In this first case it was a homeless person with mobility problems.

For now, Vilanova i la Geltrú city council has expressed its "deep condemnation of these events" in a statement posted on social media. It also called for "the utmost caution in the information that is disseminated about these exceptional events". "Coexistence is one of the great values of Vilanova i la Geltrú and at the city council we will work to keep it that way. We are grateful for the work of the local police, which has led to the arrest of one person, and also of the Mossos d'Esquadra, who are carrying out the investigation," the statement ended.