Man ‘subjected to homophobic assault’ in Madrid says injuries were consensual

LGBTI protests against hate crime in Spain will still go ahead

A Spanish man who said he had been attacked by a masked gang who subjected him to a homophobic assault at knifepoint and carved the word faggot" into one of his buttocks has now told police that his injuries were consensual.

The apparent attack, which was alleged to have taken place in the central Madrid neighbourhood of Malasana on Sunday afternoon, shocked Spain and came amid a rise in hate crimes - and just two months after a gay man was beaten to death in the northern city of A Coruna.