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| - Tourism Minister Reyes Maroto said Monday she had received by post a knife covered in red stains, days after other top leftist politicians in Spain received bullets and death threats. The left, which is trailing in the polls ahead of the May 4 regional election in Madrid, blames the far-right for the threats. "We can't be intimidated. We are conscious that democracy will defeat hate," Reyes Maroto told reporters outside parliament after filing a complaint with police over the letter. She held up a photo of the knife covered in red stains. Police are investigating if the stains were blood or paint. Maroto, a socialist, has served as minister of tourism and industry in Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's left-wing government since 2018. She has campaigned intensely in support of the Socialist party's candidate to head the regional government of Madrid ahead of next week´s polls. Sanchez "strongly condemned" the threats in a tweet. "Enough! We are not going to let this pass. We are not going to accept that hatred disrupts coexistence in Spain," he added. Spanish media reported that the man who suffers from mental health problems had been identified as being the person who sent the knife. Contacted by AFP, a National Police spokeswoman confirmed the suspect had been indentified but declined to give more information. Outgoing regional leader Isabel Diaz Ayuso, a rising star of the conservative Popular Party (PP), accused the left of trying to use the threats for political gain. "All polticians at some moment receive threats. The difference is some of us don't comment on them, we don't create a circus," she said. Last week Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, the head of the Guardia Civil police force, Maria Gamez, and the leader of far-left party Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, received threatening letters with bullet cartridges inside. "Today it is me, but if the impunity and media whitewashing of the far-right continues, tomorrow it will be other colleagues," Iglesias tweeted Thursday along with a photo of the handwritten letter which he received as well as four bullets. Iglesias stepped down last month as a deputy prime minister in Sanchez's coalition to run in the election as Podemos' candidate to head the regional government of Madrid The threats have shaken up the election campaign. Iglesias on Friday walked out of a regional election debate on radio after the candidate for the far-right Vox part cast doubt on the death threats. Sanchez on Sunday sought to rally leftist voters by warning that Vox was a "threat" to democracy. Polls suggest Ayuso of the conservative Popular Party is poised to win the most seats but could need Vox support to govern. mig-mg/ds/lc
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