An 80-year-old woman has been left with multiple facial fractures after being violently mugged while on holiday in Murcia’s Mar Menor region.
Ginesa, a retired laboratory technician from Murcia city, suffered severe injuries after being thrown to the ground during the robbery in Santiago de la Ribera on Sunday night.
The pensioner, who has spent her summers in the seaside town for more than five years, is now recovering in Murcia’s Virgen de la Arrixaca Hospital after initially being treated at Los Arcos Hospital in nearby San Javier.
Doctors are considering maxillofacial surgery after she was diagnosed with bilateral orbital fractures, extensive bruising and swelling across her face and neck, as well as double vision.
‘I feel awful when I look at my face in the mirror,’ Ginesa told Spanish newspaper El Español from her hospital bed.
The attack happened at around 10pm after she had been sitting on a bench by El Atalayon beach making a video call to a friend overseas and taking photos of the sunset over the Mar Menor.
‘I crossed the road towards the Suboficiales Club and someone came up behind me,’ she recalled.
‘He pulled my bag and threw me to the ground. I don’t remember anything else. The next thing I knew, I woke up in hospital.’
The retired healthcare worker said the attack was particularly senseless because her bag contained virtually nothing of value, saying that ‘he did al this to my face for nothing.’
Her daughter, Maria Jesus, described the level of violence as completely unnecessary.
‘There was no need to use that amount of force against my mother at her age,’ she said.
‘When they catch whoever did this, I will hire a lawyer and pursue a private prosecution.’
She said her mother also suffered a head injury and had her trousers and underwear torn as she was dragged along the ground in an apparent attempt to steal the mobile phone hanging around her neck.
The thief failed to take the phone but fled with her bag.
The Guardia Civil has launched an investigation and is reviewing CCTV footage from around Santiago de la Ribera.
Two witnesses reportedly saw the attack and described the suspect as a slim man aged around 20, approximately 1.80 metres tall and dressed in dark clothing.
Investigators are reportedly exploring the possibility that he may be of North African origin, although no arrests have been made.
Ginesa has since remembered seeing two other young men watching her while she sat on the beachfront before the attack, but she does not know whether they were connected to the robbery.
The assault has shocked residents of the normally peaceful Mar Menor resort, which becomes particularly popular with retirees and tourists during the summer.
