Spanish police detain three for suspected residency fraud via sham marriage

Spanish authorities have detained three individuals in Huétor Tájar, Granada, following an investigation into a sham marriage intended to secure residency permits. The operation, known as ‘Operación Poniente’, was initiated in July after a domestic violence report led police to discover irregularities.

The detainees include a Bolivian couple and a Spanish woman of Bolivian origin. Investigators found that a man had married the Spanish woman approximately one year prior while maintaining a separate romantic relationship with another Bolivian woman. Evidence of the fraud included the absence of immediate family members at the wedding and a lawyer who simultaneously represented both the man and his partner in immigration regularization processes.

Police have requested the annulment of the man’s five-year residency and work permit from the Granada Foreigners Office and have asked the Provincial Prosecutor's Office to proceed with the annulment of the marriage. The suspects remain under investigation for crimes including document forgery and facilitating illegal immigration.