Former Mayor of Gandia, Arturo Torró, Shot and Killed

Arturo Torró, the businessman and former mayor of Gandia, was shot and killed as a result of bullet wounds. The incident occurred late on Wednesday, around 11 PM, as reported by LAS PROVINCIAS.

The car of the former mayor of the Safor capital, who served from 2011 to 2015, was travelling on the National Highway 332 in the Xeresa area. It appears that the car, in which the optical entrepreneur was travelling, was heading towards Gandia, and it is currently unknown if anyone else was in the vehicle with him.

It seems that while Torró was travelling in his vehicle, someone stopped him and fired one or more shots. Subsequently, the body was discovered by officers from various security forces, including the Civil Guard and the Local Police of Xeresa, who arrived at the scene after receiving alerts.

At that moment, medical personnel also arrived, but they were apparently unable to save the businessman's life. No further details have been released at this time, as the case is under a gag order to allow for a detailed investigation.

Torró led Gandia from 2011 to 2015 and was the first mayor from the Popular Party to hold office in the city, achieving the first absolute majority for a party in the Safor capital. Although he won the 2015 elections, he could not govern due to the lack of an absolute majority, as the PSPV and Compromís reached an agreement that brought young Diana Morant, now Minister of Science and General Secretary of the PSPV, to the mayoralty.

In the business realm, Torró was notable for promoting various companies, some of international calibre. In the 1990s, he launched Más Visión, bringing together many small optical shops and creating a corporation present in different countries, with particular success in Argentina.

Before becoming mayor of Gandia, he sold this company to focus almost entirely on politics. After his public service, he returned to the business world by creating several companies in different sectors, although in recent years he focused on another optical-related project with the creation of Angels Vision, dedicated to selling glasses and hearing aids. This business adopted a franchise model and has branches in many Spanish cities.

He was appointed as a candidate for the mayoralty of Gandia in December 2006 and ran in the 2007 elections. After four years of intense opposition, he achieved the first absolute majority for the PP and any party in Gandia in the 2011 elections.

Torró was also one of the driving forces behind the Cooperativa Centre Històric de Gandia, a collective that united all the merchants in the centre of Gandia to revitalise the old town and increase sales. The model they implemented is still in place and has been exported to many other cities. During those years, he was also a councillor for the PP of Gandia in 1999 but left the position shortly after due to disagreements with the then leader of the party, Fernando Mut.