Teen punches Spanish PM in face, breaks his glasses

Madrid, Dec 17: Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy suffered a scare today when a 17-year-old youth punched him in the face during a campaign appearance in his northwestern fiefdom of Galicia, breaking his glasses.

A source in his ruling conservative Popular Party, who refused to be named, said the 60-year-old conservative Spanish leader was walking through the city of Pontevedra on the latest stop of his push for re-election in Sunday polls when the incident happened.

The source said the teen approached and hit him, "knocking off and breaking his glasses," adding Rajoy was fine and had continued his walk through the city.

A police source, who also refused to be named, said the alleged aggressor was a 17-year-old and had been detained. A video of the incident shows the youth, wearing a black jacket and sporting a crew cut, punching the prime minister hard on the left side of his face before being wrestled to the ground.

A photo posted after the incident picture Rajoy without his glasses, red marks on the left of his face and neck.

The incident comes at an eventful time for the electoral campaign, marked by a debate of rare ferocity on Monday, which saw the usually calm Rajoy slam his main rival Pedro Sanchez of the opposition Socialists as "a miserable wretch" when he questioned his integrity. Sanchez wanted to know why the premier had not resigned over corruption allegations that have swirled since he took office in 2011.

AFP