Laurence Dollimore
THIS is the shocking moment two US tourists allegedly received death threats after refusing to pay for ‘dodgy’ calamari on the Costa del Sol.
Gregory and Marta Venable, from New Hampshire, were eating at El Patio del Macarena in Estepona last month, where they ordered a variety of dishes.
However they let staff know that the €18 calamari was ‘horrible’ and that they could not eat it. When the €39.50 bill came, the couple asked for it to be removed from the total.
When staff refused to do so, the couple put down cash to cover everything on the bill, minus the €18 for the calamari. It was at that moment that things turned aggressive.
According to a denuncia (police report) filed by the pair, a waiter pushed Gregory and refused to let him leave until he paid the full bill. Police are now investigating the incident.
In incredible footage recorded by Marta on her phone, a worker at the restaurant can be seen forcibly stopping Gregory, a wealthy businessman, from leaving while a number of locals gather round to bully the pair into submission.
Gregory can be seen shouting: “Don’t f***ing touch me motherf****r… don’t f***ing touch me,” while the worker says “they want to leave without paying.”
Two burly local men then rush up to Gregory and begin pointing in his face, with one heard saying: “You’re a f***ing bad guy, you’re a crazy guy, you’re a bad guy.”
A local woman can then be seen getting her phone out to record the incident, shoving her mobile in Marta’s face and mocking her for not speaking Spanish.
Someone then grabs Marta’s phone and attempts to take it off her.
Gregory claims one of the local men shouting at him ‘just threatened to kill me’ before he shouts: “Call the police!”
In a video to camera explaining what happened, Gregory said: “They refused to take the calamari off… we did not eat the calamari… and they’re making a big scene and it’s absolutely ridiculous.
“We told them that the taste is very, very bad with the oil and it was very, very old, we could not eat it, it was chewy, we gave it back to them, the manager was incredibly rude and she got all the local people involved here and the waitress is very rude and they’re refusing to even talk to us about it.”
The Olive Press has contacted the restaurant for comment.
