Alberto Lejarraga
A BRITISH man claims he has been brutally assaulted by squatters at his holiday home near Marbella.
The family man, from Liverpool, was attacked after flying over to sort out the problem at his property, in Manilva.
The 52-year-old had jumped into action having received a call by a neighbour in the urbanisation informing him there were people inside the property.
He immediately flew to Malaga airport and went straight to Manilva to recover his apartment, in the hills overlooking the Med.
When he arrived at the residential area, a complex of around 700 apartments, he was told by residents to call the police, according to El Confidencial.
However, he refused to call the authorities, preferring to go to the property by himself.
When he tried to open the flat’s door, though, he discovered the lock had been changed.
He then rang the doorbell on several occasions, but got no answer.
The Englishman then spotted an open window and accessed the property through it.
Once inside, he walked to the living room as he heard voices coming from there.
The Brit saw three men and asked them what they were doing in his house.
The squatters are said to have responded in a violent manner and assaulted him, with alarming photos emerging on social media today.
According to sources one of the assailants hit him with a glass bottle over the head.
He also received blows to the body.
Pictures show him leaving the flat with multiple cuts and covered in blood.
Malaga Hospital confirmed the victim had a fractured finger as well as cuts in the left kidney, the back and left side.
“They almost killed him,” a neighbour told Spanish media.
After the attack, he went to a police station to file a complaint against the squatters for housebreaking and assault.
However, the squatters have also filed a complaint against him accusing him of the exact same thing.
This has been confirmed to the Olive Press by a Guardia Civil spokesperson.
He reportedly told Guardia Civil that he only defended himself by pushing the assailants but that he never used any object as a weapon.
“He filed a complaint against the alleged squatters and then they later filed a complaint against him,” said a spokesman. “We are continuing to investigate.”
Other residents explained that police had gone to the property to identify the three accused, who showed to the officers a ‘fake’ rental contract.
“This is upsetting, there was a man covered in blood and officers asked the assailants for nothing more than their identification,” an angry neighbour said.
Another resident said that the squatters have even set up an alarm system at the property.
The victim has flown back to the UK and he has doubts about returning to the apartment.
