A minute’s silence has been held in the Spanish town of Salou in honour of an Irishwoman who was murdered in a local hotel.

An Irishman was yesterday arrested on suspicion of murdering the woman and remains in police custody.

Catalan police said they were called to the hotel in the Tarragona beachside resort shortly after 10:30pm on Sunday night.

When they arrived, they found a woman lying on the floor.

Emergency services attempted to revive the woman but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Local police then arrested the man on suspicion of murder.

On Newstalk Breakfast, The Independent's Spanish correspondent Graham Keeley said Spanish Police are saying that it seems that this woman was strangled with a rope and died from her injuries.

"A man, who is believed to be her partner, was nearby with injuries to his wrists and has been taken to hospital and also arrested on suspicion of the woman's murder," he said.

Charges

Mr Keeley said the man will be brought before a local court when he is deemed fit for trial.

"He's likely to be charged with the offence of murder or other offences," he said.

"In Spain, those charges come much later, much nearer a trial date, which will probably happen later this year or even next year."

Spain

Mr Keeley said domestic abuse is a prevalent issue in Spain, and this story has caught the attention of a lot of Spanish media.

"Domestic abuse is in the news all the time in Spain. It's a big issue here," he said.

"They keep registers of the number of people who are unfortunately victims, and, unfortunately, the numbers are quite high in the past week.

"In the past week, three women had been killed, including the Irish woman, and since the start of the year, 26 women have died."