A SPANISH couple suffered a racially aggravated assault in York, famous for being one of  Britain’s most picturesque, tourist-friendly cities.

yorkA manhunt ensues for a group of men who repeatedly punched and kicked a 24-year-old Spanish man and held his 29-year-old girlfriend down during the attack.

The ten-minute assault took place in the centre of the city and only stopped when a passing taxi driver stepped in.

The male victim suffered a broken jaw, extensive bruising and chipped teeth and was treated at York Hospital.

The group of five men were described as white, in their twenties with short or shaven hair, and the police are eager to trace them.

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113 COMMENTS

  1. Jon, you didn’t (rather couldn’t) name the races and you didn’t (couldn’t again) explain the racist element of this assault. Yes, Spaniards are different but you are not a different race. That is all that I am telling you and I can’t “admit” anything that I was not part of, so please refrain from asking silly questions.

  3. Jon, we have a good relationship; one incident like this particular assault does not mean relations have totally broken down between our countries, does it? Of course you are different to me, and I am different to you. However, we are not different races of people. You must try and understand that the perpetrators of this attack are just violent, mindless, thugs – and have probably attacked people from their own country too. Don’t turn it into a “hate Spain” topic, because it isn’t.

  4. And the Manchester bus incident?
    I have been 3 summers in southern England improving my english. 2 of them in Rochester, Kent, and in Bath. I was 15, 16 and 17 years. My little brother, 2 years younger came with me those 3 years. Local people was very kind with us.
    I hope if I return to the UK I feel the same way, who knows.
    Now im 24 years old, and I have NEVER EVER seen a british guy been discriminated we I live.

  5. Jon, I have known plenty of Spanish people living and working in London over the years and they have all got on well and had decent jobs. I have never heard of any of them experiencing racism and I sincerely hope it stays that way. Please be assured that relations between our two countries are good and the things that I complain about on here are not personal, they are against the authorities regarding taxes, property laws and demolitions. Unlike many of the terrible problems that face the world today, this is something that could be solved tomorrow.

  6. Jon, I’ve not heard of the bus incident, but please keep to topic. British people are discriminated against all the time, in employment, in education, with ageism, sexism and in many other areas of life. Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. All countries have these discrimination issues.

  7. Its the same topic, 2 spaniards were almost attacked, not really because they could defend themselves. In the Manchester bus incident I mean.
    Discriminated? British people? Where?
    Let me tell you something.
    I live in the north of Spain. We have british tourists, but not as much as southern tourists. Some years ago I went to Canary Islands.
    One day, in a pub, I was asking a waitress for a drink. “Ron Cola” I asked for. The waitress was like a statue. Then I realised she was british and didnt understand me.
    A British girl, working in Spain, without knowing a single word in spanish. What do you think about this?
    Can you even imagine a spanish guy working in London, without knowing a single word in english?
    Discriminated…
    Northern europeans are treated as almost gods here.

    • Jon, firstly this post is about an assault in York, not Manchester, and I don’t really want to start getting into another, albeit related, story. It’s a fact that people are discriminated against everywhere. Please read some English press to see the many stories about discrimination in the UK. I am surprised you do not know this Jon. It’s basic real-life knowledge, after all.

      Northern Europeans in Spain are treated like everyone else Jon, indeed they suffer from all the same problems that Spaniards do. They may be more wealthy, but you should know that wealth always gets preferential treatment. Spain caters very much for the tourist, and wants to attract wealth. Spain wants our wealth, does it not? It wants us to buy properties, pay taxes, use local shops and so on.

      A Spanish person could not work in London without speaking English, just as an English guy could not work in Madrid without Spanish, unless the company was English-speaking, and there are a few such companies. However, I could not envisage working (or living) in Spain without speaking Spanish (or at least passable Spanish). The exceptions are the self-employed and people working in niche areas.

      Btw, I have never had a problem ordering a cola in any country lol. Anyway, I’m not sure where you are going with this discussion, which has nothing to do with racial assaults.

      • Then, if discrimination is an everyday issue in UK, why are you still denying that spaniards are being racially assaulted in England?

        As I said, we dont have that much british tourists where I live. We dont care about your wealth. Southern spaniards and islanders do, not us.

        • Jon: you may think the wealth that foreigners bring does not affect you personally, but it benefits you indirectly in the form of taxes levied on incomers, which pays for your infrastructure. Water supply, police, bomberos, health, etc. etc.

          • And? That happends in every country. When I was in England my money ended in english hands. And? Does that mean I must be treated like the queen of England? I dont know what you want to tell me with that.

        • Jon: I was disagreeing with your last two sentences where you claim incoming wealth does not affect you personally because of where you live. Please read comments a little more carefully before dismissing them.
          Also, try to understand the difference between genetics and British legal interpretation of race for the purposes of criminal behaviour.

          • British legal interpretation of race?
            So when someone is racially assaulted in the UK, the british laws say when its racism and when its not?

        • Exactly that Jon. It’s easy to research on the British Government site via google. In fact, British law has a much wider interpretation of race than simple genetics, (for the purposes of criminal behaviour) it includes travellers (gypsies) Jews, foreigners of all kinds. Go have a look. But of course, Fred is correct from a scientific point of view, genetically speaking.
          However, the case in point was simple, drunken, loutish stupidity, to be found anywhere.

          • I know what kind of people are the ones who assaulted the couple.
            I know they were very probably drunken and all that, but they assaulted the “others”.
            They targeted the spanish couple for being of another race. Racism.
            British laws says its not?

            The Yorks police said this assault was racially aggravated. They said it, I dont think im incorrect.

  8. I wonder how many British tourists have been beat up/ mugged etc. on the Costas since this article appeared. They don’t even get a report in the Spanish papers let alone have a voice in racism accusations.

    I think there is someone on here who couldn’t crack it in the UK and blames the British instead of himself. If he is Spanish at all. Ron cola indeed ha ha ha who wouldn’t understand that!

  9. Sorry for my bad english, as you can see im not british, im spanish.
    What does “crack it in the UK” mean?
    If you mean I tried to get a job in UK and failed, you’re wrong.
    I have my job in Bilbao, 50km from my town ;)

    Yeah, Ron Cola, isnt pathetic she didnt understand that? A british waitress in Spain… And you talk about discrimination?
    What would happend to a spanish waitress working in London withouth knowing english? Think about it.

  10. Jon, discrimination can apply to many different things, and not just race. As I explained, people are frequently discriminated against on the basis of their age and gender. I think you are lost in translation a bit here. Get the dictionary out. Good luck.

  11. Yes, but we are talking about an specific discrimination: racism.
    Spaniards are being racially discriminated in the UK.
    When you deny that this assault was racist, you are just trying to be politically correct, a very british characteristic.
    Like “oh we are all europeans, same race, bla bla bla”
    The first step is admiting we are different races and we must respect each other, its all I want to say…

  12. Jon, repeating incorrect information about us being different races does not ever make it correct, and actually diminishes your argument further because you haven’t taken the time to research the subject. Expatriates in Spain are also discriminated against, for example just look at the Spanish inheritance tax fiasco, which was found by the EU to be discriminating against non-Spanish residents. So the Spanish were discriminating against the British for years. Since you say (incorrectly) that we are different races, that also makes it racial discrimination in your eyes, which of course is ridiculous.

    Everywhere in the world, every day, people from all nationalities are being discriminated against in one form or another. You want to make this a British vs Spain issue, Jon, and on that point you have spectacularly failed. Don’t confuse racism and xenophobia. This assault was the latter.

  13. But I do not discrimine people of other races.
    When I say we are different races I do not fall in disrespect with you, for Christ’s nails, do you think calling a black person ‘black’ is racist? Do you feel disrespected when someone calls you ‘white?

    Racism is when some british ( or whoever ) attacks people from another race just because of that, being of another race.

    My english teacher told me he was living in southern Spain. He told me that one day some gypsies swagged his bike

    • “do you think calling a black person ‘black’ is racist?”

      No, I don’t, and it isn’t. Black is skin colour. If I was in Africa, amongst black Africans (as there are white Africans too remember), I would expect to be called “whitey” a few times, and I would not be offended either. In any event, I refer to black people as “people” if/when I meet them. We have to get out of the habit of recognising skin colour first, even though it is not racist to refer to it.

      “Racism is when some british (or whoever) attacks people from another race just because of that, being of another race.”

      That’s why the incident in York wasn’t a racist assault, Jon. It was a xenophobic attack by some mindless thugs. Please wise up.

      “My english teacher told me he was living in southern Spain. He told me that one day some gypsies swagged his bike”

      So? This is not a racist statement, just as saying “some Spaniards stole his bike”. You have much to learn.

    • Marion, are you still thinking im not spaniard?
      Bryan? The same?
      Im from the Basque Country, Northern Spain.
      When I talk with southern spaniards, they dont believe Im basque.
      It seems no one believes me, what happends with my damned identity? So hard its to believe im basque?

      Ñ: Does this tell you something about where im from?

      Marion: I know there are racist spaniards, as everywhere in this world.

  15. Sorry, last comment wasnt supposes to end there.
    My english teacher told me that because he wanted to tell me that there are bad guys everywhere in the world, just as you are doing.
    But you cant justify your own defects pointing the others defaults.

  17. Jon….grow up and if you don’t like the UK….leave!!!!!…..that’s the standard line I’ve been told by sSpanish police,doctors,local authorites………..que Sera,Sera…………by the way after 21 years of discrimination I’m hoping to leave Spain….for the UK the land of fairness

  18. My last comment was not posted, I dont understand why. I thought british people were famous for having a great sense of irony. It seems its not the case xD

    Pg: Im not living or working in the UK. 21 years being discriminated? And you still dont leave? Are you kidding me? Are you masochistic?

    Bryan: Zozoak beleari ipurbeltz.

  19. Jon: Although you seem like a nice chap, you have just about squeezed all the juice out of this topic now. Perhaps you were deleted for the sin of boredom rather than the virtue of irony. Maybe you should practice your repartee on another subject?

  20. I just wanted to point that this assault in York was racist.
    Someone says its not, the other one says im not spaniard, and finally, we have a guy that thinks that im angry with the english because I didnt get a job in the UK.

    I just wanted to point that, sorry for my sins, I actually dindt want to bore you. Hope you do well in future, and dont beat spaniards please! :)
    Or people for other races, of course.

  25. Jon, do me a favour and please go back to college after the Summer. Get some anthropology lessons in your curriculum. The idea that there is (or ever was) a distinct northern European race was dismissed by several eminent anthropologists well over 100 years ago, purely on the studies of cranial remains found across Europe. What we are now is a mixture of all; moving across the land mass of what is now “Europe”.

  26. Jon, anthropological studies done as far back as 100 years ago from the eminent scientists of the time (using skull/cranial remains) showed that there are no different races in northern Europe, or indeed across all of Europe. Europeans are a mixture of all the same people, as they travelled and settled. Do you also believe the Sun revolves around the Earth can I ask?

  28. You’re only insulting our common sense Jon, lol. Debate it isn’t, you are really in denial and cannot even name the different races that myself and yourself supposedly belong to, and that, as we say, is the last nail in the coffin of your different races nonsense.

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