• Azca heats up: a brawl at a VIP 'after' party ends with a doorman stabbed and four arrested

The National Police arrested on the morning of Thursday, November 9, the Almudena holiday in the capital, a 32-year-old homeless man of Spanish nationality, accused of sexually assaulting a 27-year-old woman who was sleeping on the street on the ground floor of Calle de Orense, in the Madrid district of Tetuán. After the rape, the victim went to the Canopy Hilton hotel for help, where she was given first aid and the police were notified.

The agents made a sweep of the area and, a few minutes later, managed to arrest the alleged culprit thanks to the description given by the woman. The case is being investigated by agents of the UFAM (Family and Women's Unit) of the Madrid Police Headquarters. There are video surveillance cameras in the area that the National Police are already examining to clarify the case.

The events took place early in the morning in the lower areas of Azca, near General Perón. The victim of the attack was sleeping in that area of the basement, under the skyscrapers, near another homeless man. The woman said that this man sexually assaulted her while covering her mouth so that she could not call for help.

After the sexual assault, the man left and the woman went out very scared to get help. He climbed the stairs and arrived at the Plaza de Carlos Trías Bertrán. This enclave is home to the Canopy by Hilton Madrid Castellana hotel. The workers at the reception, after assisting her, called the National Police, who went to the scene. Other patrols combed the area and managed to apprehend the suspect. Agents of the Scientific Police went to the scene of the alleged assault on the woman to collect more evidence.

Third incident in Azca

Enrique, a doorman at a nearby building full of offices and where very few residents live, says that the homeless take shelter when the temperatures drop on the ground floor of Orense Street and sleep among blankets and cardboard. "I wasn't working that day, but I was told that the police were questioning several nightclub workers in the area, they didn't know that a rape had occurred," he said. Another neighbor, Alicia, points out that lately there is more presence of homeless people in this part of the capital and that the services of Samur Social regularly come to offer them help. In addition, there are several NGOs that frequently come to these grounds to inquire about their condition.

This is the third incident that has occurred on the ground floor of Azca in the last two weeks after two other brawls with injuries have occurred at the door of the Nazca nightclub and at the exit of the Lioparda Club.

In the first six months of the year, there were 310 reports of sexual assault in the Madrid region compared to 288 in the same period of 2022, an increase of 7.6%. Residents of the area say that when the cold weather begins, several people sleep on the ground floor of Calle de Orense and Avenida de General Perón, very close to the Santiago Bernabéu stadium and the Picasso tower.

  • National Police