A reporter couldn’t hold back tears after she was attacked live on air in Barcelona at a march to observe the second anniversary of the Catalan independence referendum.
Laila Jiménez, from Spanish television network Telecinco, was reporting live when she was hit on the head by a Red Bull thrown by a protester on Tuesday evening, October 1 – she was then pushed and shouted at by angry Catalan separatists outside Jaume Balmes school, on the corner of the streets of Consejo de Ciento and Pau Claris.
Some demonstrators yelled at her to leave but others were kinder and tried to protect her, with one of them offering her paper towels to dry herself.
Miss Jiménez, who struggled to hold back tears, later changed locations and continued reporting.
She later described the incident as “humiliating”, according to Informativos Telecinco.
The treatment of the journalist spurred outrage online, with several Spanish politicians condemning it.
On Twitter, Gabriel Rufián, spokesman for the Republican Party of Catalonia, wrote,
“Doing this with a female worker with a microphone on the street is disgusting.”
Qué barbaridad. pic.twitter.com/LUY6fj5Tfj
— Héctor Juanatey (@hectorjuanatey) October 2, 2019
