Alberto Lejarraga
A LEADING expat restaurant on the Costa del Sol has stayed closed today as a tribute to a doorman who died at the weekend.
Olivia’s La Cala, owned by British TV celebrity Elliot Wright, will shut for two days after popular employee Jose Pisani was killed during a fight.
The 55-years-old bouncer, a keen bodybuilder, was said to have been punched and fell over banging his head when trying to break up the fracas on Saturday.
“This weekend we lost a much loved & valued member of our team,” a statement for the Mijas restaurant, read on social media.
“Our hearts are broken and we have closed today and tomorrow out of respect. We are supporting our staff and the family whilst awaiting news of further investigations.”
It is believed that Pisani, a long-time personal trainer, attempted to break up a fight between two groups of diners, who had come to blows outside the restaurant.
Local media reported that the punch had made him ‘lose his balance’, hitting his head against the corner of a table as he fell.
The former bodybuilder was rushed to Malaga’s Regional Hospital, where he was immediately sent to the intensive care unit with a serious head trauma.
It has been reported that he went into a coma, with doctors not being able to save his life.
Pisani’s body is now at the Institute of Legal Medicine (IML) in Malaga, where an autopsy will be carried out today to certify the exact cause of death.
The Guardia Civil is currently investigating the incident and told the Olive Press they are unable to give further details until tomorrow.
Wright, who was a star of TOWIE, The Only Way is Essex, has been a restaurateur for 20 years in Spain and owns a second restaurant in Villamartin in Alicante.
It has been a tough few years for the restaurant, which was badly burned in a fire exactly two years ago, leading to it shutting for many months.
