A MAN was beaten unconscious during a homophobic attack in Spain’s ‘southern gay capital’ last week.
The 39-year-old was waiting for an Uber when the men pounced on him and left him bruised and bleeding on the side of the street.
The incident occurred at around 6am on Friday after bars had shut.
The man had entered La Nogalera train station to find that there was a 30 minute wait for the next train so he left in hope of finding a taxi.
Rather than finding a way home, he was met by three men who shouted ‘give me a drink, you bloody queer’.
The victim said he was left ‘trembling’ as he was ‘alone and very nervous’, and tried to contact an Uber driver, but the aggressors thought he was calling the police and started to attack him.
A punch to his face made him unconscious and after he fell to the floor the attackers kicked him in the ribs leaving him with a black eye and a bruised head.
By the time he regained consciousness the aggressors had fled and thankfully two passers by came to his rescue.
READ MORE: Revealed: The terrifying Serb neo-Nazi whose narco empire took over Mallorca in just two years
‘They put a bandage on me because I was bleeding and accompanied me to the police station’, the man said.
Officers at the station advised that he went to the nearest health centre and noted that a homophobic attack had occurred.
After visiting Malaga’s Hospital Regional, the victim contacted the Equipo de Atencion a la Mujer, an organisation which focuses on hate crimes.
The group activated their Protocolo de Actuacion en Delitos de Odio (Protocol for hate crimes) and offered the man ‘attention, company, and support’.
An investigation has also begun as the organisation aims to collect information and testimonies with the goal of clarifying the facts and determining if there was motivation for the assault.
The victim states that the aggressors are not regulars in the area of La Nogalera – the ‘southern gay capital’ in Torremolinos – where locals frequent the same small bars and all know each other.
He has described two of the men as having beards and being around 25-years-old but is unable to provide information on the third man due to not having seen him properly.
He is sure that the assault would have been captured by the nearby club’s security cameras.
Once the organisation’s investigation is complete they will pass their conclusions over to the Autoridad Judicial for evaluation.
The victim insists that no one should feel scared because of their sexual orientation and desperately hopes to find out who was responsible for the attack.
Click here to read more Crime & Law News from The Olive Press.
