Two men have been arrested by police following the death of a Gran Canaria visitor who died in an incident at the Santa Cruz Carnival in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
The 30-year-old visitor, who works in Lanzarote and had travelled to Tenerife to enjoy the famous festivities, died from a single punch in an altercation which is under investigation. Witnesses say one of the pair arrested reacted angrily to jostling during the late-night revelry and aimed a punch at the man’s head, which caused massive internal bleeding. Although emergency services arrived on the scene quickly to rush him to hospital, they were unable to save his life.
The fatal incident, the first of its kind during Carnival in recent memory despite numerous drink-fuelled incidents of a minor nature, cast a dark shadow over the celebrations and the authorities called off the giant Carnival Tuesday parade through the city centre as a mark of respect.
The parade was already in doubt due to the anticipated heavy rain but news of the tragedy prompted the city council to decide not to go ahead even if conditions had cleared up. Santa Cruz mayor José Manuel Bermúdez said he had spoken to the family of the victim to convey his condolences.
