Image copyright AFP Image caption Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wishes to rebury Franco's remains

A man has been arrested in north-eastern Spain on suspicion of plotting to assassinate Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

The suspect, known as a crack shot, had an arsenal of weapons at his home in Terrassa, Catalonia's Mossos d'Esquadra police force announced.

Local media said the man, 63, wanted to take revenge for Mr Sánchez's plans to exhume the remains of Francisco Franco.

The fascist leader's mausoleum is revered by the Spanish far right.

Sixteen unlicensed firearms, including a pistol, were found in the suspect's home.

Named only as Manuel M, the suspect is said to have told friends on Whatsapp he was going to kill Mr Sánchez, who became prime minister in June.

He is said to be a far-right extremist with a history of mental problems.</s>The suspect reportedly wanted revenge over a plan to exhume the remains of Spain’s former dictator.

A man has been arrested over an alleged plot to assassinate Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. The 63-year-old was arrested at his home near Barcelona after a threat was made on a far-right, nationalist WhatsApp group to shoot Sánchez. The suspect, identified by local media as Manuel Murillo Sanchez, was said by police to be angered over Sánchez’s government’s plan to disinter the remains of former dictator Francisco Franco from a monument to those who died in the Spanish civil war.

 The man was known to police for extreme-right views, mental health issues, and for having an arsenal of firearms and training in their use. Sixteen unlicensed firearms were discovered in the raid on his home, which took place on Sept. 19 but was made public today.

Police became concerned, according to accounts in the Spanish daily newspaper Público, after the 63-year-old moved from making generic political complaints to very specific threats, including asking for other members of the WhatsApp group for logistical aid in targeting the prime minister.

 "I am willing to sacrifice myself for Spain," he reportedly told the group, according to Público. Sánchez, who took office in June, has been at the forefront of a bitter controversy in Spain over the remains of Franco, who ruled Spain as a dictator for nearly 40 years until his death in 1975. Franco’s role and his leadership of the right during the 1935–1937 civil war — which left millions dead, wounded, or homeless — remains a bitter point of contention between Spaniards. The proposal to remove Franco’s body from the Valley of the Fallen, northwest of Madrid, has sparked a controversy between the dictator’s family and the government over where to move it, and whether the new grave should be allowed to become another shrine to the far right.

The plot comes just days after France announced a series of arrests around the country of what prosecutors described as a far-right extremist group planning to assassinate French President Emmanuel Macron. And in August, violent neo-Nazi groups shocked the German city of Chemnitz with a series of protests against Chancellor Angela Merkel’s policies of accepting almost 1 million refugees, mostly from the Middle East, in 2015.

 Private firearms ownership in Spain is limited, with just about 8,000 licenses to carry handguns for personal protection issued, as well as around 3 million firearms legally owned for sporting and target shooting. According to a police press conference, the suspect, who works as a private security guard, had at least one legally registered weapon and is thought to have considerable skill with firearms, including having illegally modified several of the weapons investigators found at the scene.</s>An expert marksman has been arrested on suspicion of planning a "lone wolf" attack to assassinate Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

The 63-year-old suspect, named locally as Manuel Murillo Sanchez, was found with an arsenal of weapons, including sniper-style rifles and a submachine gun, at his home.

The private security guard, who has extensive experience with long-range guns, is said to have "spoken of his intention to attack Pedro Sanchez in WhatsApp groups".

A spokesman for Mossos d’Esquadra police, near Barcelona, said: "We are not confirming the name but we can confirm a 63-year-old man has been arrested in Terrassa.

"He has experience as a sports-orientated marksman with long-range long-barrelled guns.

"He had spoken of his intention to attack Pedro Sanchez in WhatsApp groups.

"An arsenal of weapons, consisting of 16 long-barrelled weapons and 16 shotguns, was found at his home.

"He has been sent to prison following a court appearance."

Another police source told Spanish daily Publico, which broke news of the arrest: "He was the perfect lone wolf, a nobody with a gun licence whose expertise marksmanship didn’t arouse any suspicion, in the same way he didn’t arouse suspicion by carrying a pistol because he needed it for his work."

The detainee is said to have decided to target the Spanish PM after his government approved a decree in August allowing dictator Francisco Franco to be exhumed from the Valley of the Fallen mausoleum near Madrid, and given to his family to be buried elsewhere.

The suspect reportedly asked contacts in a small WhatsApp group he was part of for help obtaining information on the Spanish PM’s agenda so he knew where he would be at any given time.

He is said to have told the group: "I am ready to sacrifice myself for Spain."

He is being held at a prison in Martorell near Barcelona.</s>Spanish police have detained a 63-year-old man in the northeastern Catalonia region who "wanted to kill" Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, authorities said on Thursday.

The man had an "arsenal of weapons" at his home in the town of Terrassa, Catalan police said on Twitter, including more than a dozen firearms, sniper rifles and a submachine gun.

According to local media, the man had threatened to assassinate the prime minister on social media, vowing to take revenge for the government's controversial plan to exhume the late Spanish dictator Francisco Franco.

The arrest took place in September but was first reported Thursday by Spain's Publico newspaper. The suspect, a former private security guard, remains in custody but has not been charged.

"This person had a clear intention and will to take actions against the prime minister and he was only lacking logistical support," Catalan regional police spokesman Albert Oliva told journalists.

Spain's government said in a statement that the prime minister's security had "never been compromised," and that the assassination plan was an "isolated incident."

Since coming to power in June, Sanchez has made it a government priority to relocate Franco's remains from a huge mausoleum at the Valley of the Fallen memorial site where he was laid to rest after his death in 1975. The prime minister wants to move the embalmed corpse to a more discreet site where it will be harder for the dictator's followers to pay tribute.

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The Mossos d'Esquadra announces that on September 19, 2018, they arrested a man planning to assassinate the Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez.