A man from the United Kingdom has been hospitalized in Spain following an incident where he was allegedly attacked with a screwdriver by a passerby after declining to give him a cigarette. The victim, identified as Scottish by the authorities, suffered a punctured lung during the assault at Plaza de Ayuntamiento in Valencia’s city center around 4 am on Saturday. A 45-year-old man, known to have a criminal background, was apprehended at the scene in relation to the attack.
The assault unfolded when a woman’s cries caught the attention of nearby police officers. The woman, a citizen of Uruguay, was with the Scottish man when the attacker, seeking a cigarette, reportedly stabbed him with a screwdriver after being refused.
The suspect was described by the newspaper Las Provincias as a person with “altered mental faculties.” The victim was taken to Doctor Peset University Hospital in Valencia, with his current medical status undisclosed.
In a separate incident at Palma Airport in Mallorca, a man in his 20s was stabbed in the neck without a clear motive while waiting for a friend to arrive. The attack, described as brutal and unprovoked, occurred when an individual approached the victim under the guise of asking about his phone, then suddenly brandished a knife and inflicted the injury.
Reports indicate that a suspect was swiftly detained within the airport premises, while the victim received immediate medical attention from a SAMU 061 ambulance team. Following stabilization on-site, he was transferred to a hospital for specialized treatment.
A reliable source later mentioned that the assailant claimed to have no recollection of the incident. According to the source, the suspect allegedly reacted impulsively after believing his own phone had been stolen, leading to the mistaken attack on the victim.
During the Palma Airport incident, it was noted that the suspect was among the homeless individuals at the airport. The victim, an Argentinian resident on the island, had no prior acquaintance with the attacker who nearly took his life.