Protests in Spain against suspected LGBTQ hate crime

BARCELONA — People took to the streets of Spain’s biggest cities on Monday evening to express their anger at the death of a man in a suspected homophobic attack at the weekend.

Crowds filled a central Madrid square and activists marched down a major street in Barcelona, chanting slogans and waving placards and rainbow-colored flags.

“The response to the wave of LGBT-phobic hatred that ended the life of Samuel in A Coruna is overwhelming,” the left-wing Podemos party that governs in coalition with the ruling Socialists wrote on Twitter.

Thousands gather to protest the killing of Samuel Luiz in Madrid, Spain, on July 5, 2021. Bernat Armangue / AP

Samuel Luiz, a 24-year-old nursing assistant, was beaten near a nightclub in the early hours of Saturday in the town of A Coruna, northern Spain, by several assailants including one who shouted a common pejorative description of a gay person, state broadcaster RTVE reported. He later died in the hospital.

Jose Minones, a local government representative in the region where A Coruna is located, tweeted that the police were working to find out what happened and to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Local media quoted him as saying the investigation would show whether or not the attack was motivated by homophobia.

Protesters in Madrid, Spain, on July 5, 2021. Bernat Armangue / AP

Interior Ministry data shows 278 hate crimes related to sexual orientation or gender identity were reported in Spain in 2019, an 8.6 percent increase on the previous year. The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights warns only a fraction of hate crimes are reported to the police.

In central Barcelona, 21 year-old Sergio Cuevas said: “I think this crime happened because homophobia kills.”

Follow NBC Out on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram