Outcry after homophobic attacks in Barcelona

The Observatory Against Homophobia (OCH) said five gay men had been injured in three separate attacks. In the most serious incident, a man needed facial surgery after he and his friends were attacked on a beach. Police are investigating but have not made any arrests, local media reported. Local politicians took to social media to condemn the attacks. “We will never normalize this situation,” tweeted the city council’s head of citizenship rights, Marc Serra Solé.OCH president Eugeni Rodríguez said the incident on Barcelona’s Somorrostro Beach involved two gay couples who were set upon by three men. The men approached them and insulted them and then attacked them after checking no police officers were in the area, Mr. Rodríguez said, according to the Spanish EFE news agency.