Walter Finch
A SECURITY guard has lost an eye while intervening in a brawl at a Barcelona metro station.
The horrific attack occurred at the Poblenou station on Line 4 at 11.45 pm on Saturday, when four security guards intervened to break up a fight between passengers.
In what transport officials have described as a ‘senseless attack against workers whose only goal is to ensure passenger safety,’ one of the guards was punched in the face by a 19-year-old wearing brass knuckles.
The man was taken to hospital but the injury was so severe that he lost his left eye.
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Three other security guards were also injured in the violent confrontation while attempting to restore order at the station.
Catalan police, the Mossos d’Esquadra, have arrested one suspect in connection with the assault, though investigations remain ongoing to determine if others were involved in the attack.
Transport Metropolitan de Barcelona (TMB) and Securitas Security Spain, which employs the guards, have strongly condemned the violence.
The transport authority has handed over CCTV footage from the station to aid the police investigation.
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This incident comes amid increasing reports of violence against transport workers in major Spanish cities, with security guards playing a crucial role in maintaining passenger safety across Barcelona’s extensive metro network.
The attack has sparked calls for enhanced protection measures for security personnel working across Barcelona’s public transport system, with fellow security guards staging demonstrations to demand improved working conditions just last week.
They also complained that they are not permitted to carry pepper spray ‘or other tools to do our jobs.’
Police are continuing their investigation into the incident, with the suspect remaining in custody.
The Mossos announced that police teams on the city’s metro system today had ‘identified 105 people who had accumulated 313 criminal records.’
Security has long been an issue in Barcelona, which was ranked as the ‘second most dangerous city in Europe’ after Brussels.
The Catalan capital was reported to have 326 robberies per 100,000 inhabitants by Eurostat in 2021.
