José Luis Novoa Ibáñez, born in Bilbao and living in Burgos, 23 years old, accused of fatally punching a 32-year-old man from Valladolid last Saturday at dawn, will go to court this Tuesday in search of clarifying the details of the attack.
The attacker hit Sergio Delgado, “because he was from Valladolid,” according to investigators, who are considering whether the attacker used some type of reinforcement or weapon for his fist.
The deceased had gone to Burgos to celebrate a friend's bachelor party and met the suspect in the early hours of the morning.
The Police continue to study the facts and have verified that the detainee has links to extreme left groups, the Mancebos BCF, linked to the Burgos CF cheering stands and involved in beatings and fights with rival fans.
Between Burgos and Valladolid there is a historical rivalry for political and social reasons, exacerbated in recent years for sporting reasons.
Police sources report that the blow, at the height of the nose, was so strong that it caused his death almost immediately.
At first they thought that death came from the subsequent fall, but the facial injury confirmed the strong impact.
Investigators believe that he used “some protection or reinforcement” to hit and then got rid of it.
If confirmed, it would no longer be considered a reckless homicide and would be classified as murder, since these protections are considered weapons and add an intentional component to the event.
A worker removes a graffiti of "murderers" on the façade of the El Plantío municipal stadium, in Burgos.Tomás Alonso (Europa Press)
Delgado was 1.94 meters tall and had a strong build.
The agents are evaluating the surrounding surveillance cameras to clarify the details, without ruling out more arrests in the suspect's surroundings.
The group Los Mancebos, they add, is linked to ultra-leftist ideology and its members have participated in beating rival fans, not necessarily radicals, but mere travelers or families.
That happened with some Real Zaragoza spectators visiting Burgos, where they also clashed with members of the far-right Boquerón Front from Malaga.
They also have dealings with the
Osasuna
nationalist supporters club, the Indar Gorri.
A year ago, 64 people were arrested in six cities due to pitched battles before Burgos-Zaragoza in 2022. “They beat up well-dressed young people, they touch all the bases of crime.
It is more a political issue than a football one, football is the pretext,” police sources appreciate.
The Mancebos post photos on All Cops Are Bastards.
In some photos they carry Basque flags with the motto Gora Euskadi.
On their stickers they proclaim themselves anti-fascist.
The Burgos CF club has launched a brief institutional message in which it shows its “absolute rejection of any form of violence, whether inside or outside the sporting field, strongly condemning the events that occurred.”
The El Plantío stadium appeared this Monday with “Murderers” graffiti.
06:29
Have the ultras returned to football?
(Report originally published in November 2023))
The leftist fan group Resaca Castellana has also distanced itself from the event and has expressed its condolences.
Sources close to Resaca affirm that there is a strong generation gap between the Mancebos and them, with the former being “mostly 18-year-old kids;
"The accused, at 23, is one of the older ones."
This small faction has had problems, even resolved with violence, with its predecessors, and they have been very involved in football, these sources indicate.
The Federation of Peñas del Burgos CF has distanced itself from the event and has shown its affection to its Real Valladolid counterparts.
A former member of Izquierda Unida and member of Burgos, who requests anonymity, calls these small groups the heirs of Resaca Castellana: “kids always in fights and moves, we have always suffered from them and football is an excuse, what they like is to hit each other” .
“They define themselves as ultra-left, but I don't know how they understand life,” laments the man from Burgos, recalling the frequent boycotts and vandalism of the party headquarters.
Police efforts are trying to determine the causes of this sudden attack.
According to those close to the deceased, he was with a friend in the early hours of Friday to Saturday in Burgos, when they ran into a group of people from Burgos and, upon telling them that they were from Valladolid, Delgado received the “very strong punch.”
The Police highlighted the “difficulty in identifying the young people involved and for them to clearly remember the events,” given the time of day and because many had drunk alcohol.
Tribute in Valladolid and Burgos
Colleagues and friends of the deceased young man, during the minute of silence held this Monday at the Valladolid City Hall.
R. García (EFE)
The Plaza Mayor of Valladolid, like the one in Burgos, hosted a silent rally this Monday morning to honor both the deceased and the 10 killed in the fire of a building in Valencia last week.
Many students from the hairdressing school of the victim's mother, whose father resides in another city, have gathered together with the municipal corporation.
“Sergio, we are with you,” said a banner displayed in front of the Town Hall.
Two women close to the parent, Sara Pereira and another named Encarna, who has declined to give her last name, have condemned what happened and highlighted “the smile” of the deceased, who they recalled “never got into trouble.”
The two town councils, from the PP, have issued a joint statement.
The mayor of Valladolid, Jesús Julio Carnero, has appealed for harmony, has asked for a life without violence and has been “horrified” by the aggression.
Cristina Ayala from Burgos has considered the punch as a “hate crime.”
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits
Keep reading
I am already a subscriber
_