Dec
17
A 17-year-old youth who punched Spain’s prime minister in the face and broke his glasses has been sent to a juvenile detention centre for up to six months.
The incident happened on Wednesday, when Mariano Rajoy was mingling with crowds in the city of Pontevedra, in his home region of Galicia, on the latest stop of his campaign for the general elections on Sunday.
The teenager approached and hit the prime minister hard on the left side of his face, knocking off and breaking his glasses before being wrestled to the ground by Rajoy’s bodyguards.
A photo posted after the incident showed Rajoy without his glasses, red marks on the left of his face and neck, but he was not badly hurt and continued his walk through the city.
The high court of Galicia announced on Thursday that a court in Pontevedra had sent the teenager to a youth detention centre.
“He will be locked up in the centre … for a maximum period of six months,” it said, awaiting a final ruling on the case by a juvenile court in Pontevedra.
Rajoy went on to appear as planned at a campaign meeting on Wednesday evening, and travelled to Brussels on Thursday for the last EU leaders’ summit of his four-year term.
Spanish television showed Rajoy surrounded by Germany’s Angela Merkel and Britain’s David Cameron on the sidelines of the summit.
Merkel was pictured reaching out for Rajoy’s left cheek, in what was interpreted as a sign of concern for the Spanish leader after the assault.
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