Police in Catalonia have arrested four people after Mounir Nasraoui, the father of the Barcelona and Spain winger Lamine Yamal, was stabbed in a car park in Rocafonda, near Barcelona.
Nasraoui was taken to a nearby hospital late on Wednesday after being stabbed multiple times, police told the Guardian. He remains in hospital in a serious but stable condition. On Thursday afternoon Nasraoui posted on social media for the first time since the incident, writing: “Thank you all for your encouragement, I’m better now, a big hug to everyone”.
Police said they made three arrests on Wednesday evening and one on Thursday. While they initially said those arrested would face charges of attempted homicide, on Thursday officials revealed the investigation remains open and that it was too early to confirm whether charges would be laid.
Police said the stabbing had followed an argument between Nasraoui and several others in Rocafonda. The Spanish newspaper El País reported that the roots of the altercation traced back to hours earlier, when Nasraoui was sprayed with water from a balcony above as he walked his dog. On Thursday several videos circulating on social media appeared to show Nasraoui arguing with several people before local police intervened.
The incident comes one month after Nasraoui, 35, made headlines across Spain as he cheered on his son’s dazzling turn at the recent Euro 2024.
While the 17-year-old was instrumental in helping Spain clinch their record fourth European Championship title, his father was responsible for one of the most viral moments of the tournament, after he posted a long-forgotten photo on social media showing Lionel Messi posing for photos with Lamine Yamal as a baby.
The tournament also thrust the neighbourhood of Rocafonda, located in the Catalan town of Mataró, into the spotlight. As Lamine Yamal became the youngest goalscorer in the tournament’s history, he celebrated by signalling 304 – the last three digits of the diverse, working-class neighbourhood’s postcode – with his hands.
Police said the stabbing had followed an argument between Nasraoui and several others in Rocafonda. The Spanish newspaper El País reported that the roots of the altercation traced back to hours earlier, when Nasraoui was sprayed with water from a balcony above as he walked his dog.
Spanish media were swift to point out this was not the first time Nasraoui had been embroiled in confrontation. Last year he was fined €546 by a court in Mataró after he insulted and threw eggs at a tent set up to rally votes for the far-right Vox party.
When the Guardian visited Rocafonda last month, however, several people defended Nasraoui’s actions, saying the anti-immigrant party had set up the tent with the aim of eliciting a reaction in a neighbourhood where approximately a third of residents were born abroad. “They had come here to get a rise out of people,” said Juan Carlos Serrano Muñoz, the owner of the small El Cordobés bar where Lamine Yamal and his father regularly stopped in for breakfast before making the 90-minute train journey to training in Barcelona. “And Nasraoui] got annoyed, asking: ‘What are you doing coming here? You’re just here to provoke.’”
