It’s just a few minutes past 10pm on May 29, a Saturday. The scene is Somorrostro beach in the Barceloneta neighborhood of Barcelona, where nightlife venues remain closed due to Covid-19 but the cosmopolitan vibe lives on. Two homosexual couples and a heterosexual couple meet and strike up a conversation as they sit in a circle on the sand. They laugh, drink and chat. Four individuals suddenly approach. “You fucking faggots!” shouts one of them. Another spits at one of the young men. “I’ll cut the throat of anyone who raises an eyebrow!” yells a third.
The threats are followed by a relentless series of punches and kicks. One of the attackers pushes the heterosexual couple aside so they can focus on the four gay men. Israel (not his real name) is knocked to the ground. He tries to get up, but receives a brutal kick in the mouth that leaves him semi-conscious on the sand. His jaw is broken and he has lost several teeth. The other three victims were luckier; despite their injuries, they did not require medical treatment.
The aggression in Somorrostro is one of the most serious attacks against members of the LGBTQ+ community in Barcelona in recent memory. There were two other incidents on the same day, though there is no connection between them. On the morning of June 5, a protest was held in the center of the Catalan capital against any act of hatred against the LGBTQ+ community. “We aren’t familiar with violence such as that of last Saturday in Somorrostro. It is a very serious crime that produced very serious injuries,” said Eugeni Rodríguez, president of Barcelona’s Observatory Against Homophobia (OCH). » | Alfonso L. Congostrina | Barcelona | Wednesday, June 9, 2021
