Young Italian in a coma after brutal attack outside a nightclub in Barcelona

Nicola Maggiotto, a 21-year-old man from Asolo, an Italian municipality in the Veneto region, is in an induced coma in a Barcelona hospital after suffering an attack last Wednesday night, while he was on vacation with a group of nine other people his age.

According to the reconstruction of the events provided by the young man's friends, the incident occurred shortly after 10:00 p.m. outside a nightclub from which the group had just left after having been there for a few hours. Two of the Italians, who had walked away momentarily, were approached by a dozen people, also young and Spanish-speaking, and the 21-year-old received a strong blow to the back of the head that left him unconscious.

The perpetrators allegedly started a fight with other Italians who came to the aid of the two men, and then fled before police and paramedics arrived. According to what Daniel Maggiotto, the father of the victim who traveled to Barcelona with his wife to help his son, told the Ansa agency, he suffered brain injuries and his prognosis is reserved.

A friend who tried to defend him suffered a cheekbone injury that required stitches and was released a few hours later. Apparently, the attack does not appear to have been motivated by robbery, since nothing appears to have been taken from the victims' belongings or wallets.

According to RaiNews, the Italian Consulate in Barcelona has been providing assistance since the first notice to the two young Italians involved in the attack that occurred in recent days in the Catalan city. Sources from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have announced that the consulate is closely monitoring Nicola Maggiotto's health status, maintaining constant contact with his family, who has arrived in Barcelona, ​​and with the health center where he is admitted.

Assistance was also provided to the other Spanish citizen who was injured in the incident and who was later discharged. Sources from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasize that the circumstances of the incident have not yet been completely clarified. The family has filed a complaint and the Spanish authorities have launched an investigation to reconstruct the circumstances of the attack and identify those responsible.