A Spanish chef has been arrested after attacking and “seriously injuring” a holidaymaker at an Ibiza restaurant who complained about his meal, according to police.
Police claim the OAP had to have an emergency hospital operation after the suspect reacted to the complaint by pushing him off his chair and then throwing his food on the floor beside him.
The alleged assault happened in a “well-known” restaurant in the holiday resort of Santa Eulalia in Ibiza, one of the Balearic Islands where locals have held anti-mass tourism protests this year.
There is no evidence to suggest the alleged incident is linked to tourism-phobia, and well-placed sources said they suspected the chef, who had not been named, had been “having a bad day.”
The Civil Guard went public with the arrest today, saying the pensioner had needed his hospital op because he had two blood clots in his chest, which were making it difficult to breathe.
The restaurant where the alleged incident took place has not yet been named.
A spokesman for the Civil Guard in Majorca said: “Officers have arrested a chef at a restaurant in Santa Eulalia in Ibiza for a serious assault on a client who was eating there.
“The victim of the assault was enjoying a meal at the well-known restaurant with his partner and some friends. He apparently informed the waiting staff the meal he was served was not the one he had ordered and the food was off.
“After the message was passed onto the kitchen, the chef approached the table where the 72-year-old German man was eating and started shouting and being very aggressive.
“Once he reached the client he pushed him hard and made him fall to the floor where he hit the back of a chair, suffering a blow to his back and neck.
“While he was on the floor, the alleged aggressor threw the plate of food on the floor right by the client whilst continuing to shout and insult him.
“The victim and his friends and partner left the premises and went to the nearest local health centre where he was told he had only minor bruising.
“A few days later, when he still felt poorly, he decided to go back and was rapidly transferred to Son Espases Hospital in Palma for an operation, as he had two blood clots in his chest which were making it difficult for him to breathe.
“The Spanish chef, a 37-year-old, was arrested on suspicion of a crime of serious wounding and handed over to the courts.”
It was not immediately clear today if the unnamed suspect had already appeared before a judge, who would be expected to bail him pending an ongoing probe ending in formal charges being laid if he feels there is enough evidence to warrant a trial.
In May, around 1,000 protestors took part in a demo in Ibiza to vent their anger over the effects of mass tourism.
Campaigners held up banners saying ‘We don’t want an island of cement’ and ‘Tourism, yes but not like this’ as they massed outside Ibiza Council’s HQ.
The organisers of the Ibiza demo, a group called Prou Eivissa, met with Ibiza’s president Vicent Mari before taking to the streets.
Their demands include a limit on the number of vehicles that can enter the island in summer and a ban on using taxpayers’ cash to promote Ibiza as a tourist destination.
At the end of the protest, a letter from an Ibiza-born woman was read out. She linked her decision to leave the island with her family and move to the Spanish mainland to a “destructive” tourist model that had led to “more cars, more tourists and more incivility.”
This year, two anti-mass tourism marches have already been held in the Majorcan capital, Palma.
At the weekend, thousands took to the streets in the Canary Islands to protest the negative effects of too many tourists on the popular holiday destination.
Shocked holidaymakers found them penned in by flag-waving protestors who stormed a beach in the south of Tenerife on Sunday shouting: “This beach is ours.”
