Video: Spanish PM punched hard in the head by reckless teen, arrested

In the video, Rajoy was addressing a crowd in front of a small church as a part of his poll campaign for the Popular Party ahead of the general election. The teenager is seen standing right next to the prime minister. He moves quickly to punch the PM with his left hand before being subdued by security officers. After sustaining a blow on the side of his head, Rajoy’s glasses can be seen flying to the ground.

WATCH VIDEO

Video on Spanish TV showed Rajoy falling toward the ground from the impact but being propped up by others around him.

Spanish media reported that Rajoy’s attacker was 17. Video showed him being detained by security guards and then taken in handcuffs from a building, raising his hands and thumbs into the air in an apparent victory sign.

Rajoy’s face was bruised in photos of him after the attack but he did not appear to be seriously injured, though Spanish media said his glasses were knocked to the ground and crushed.

Rajoy later appeared, smiling but without his glasses, at a campaign appearance in the nearby city of A Coruna.

Development Minister Ana Pastor confirmed the assault in a tweet, telling Rajoy she had no words “to express my indignation for the aggression you suffered on the streets of Pontevedra.”

Polls say the Popular Party will win in Sunday’s general election but won’t regain the majority it has in parliament following years of unpopular austerity cuts hitting cherished national health care and public education plus tax hikes Rajoy promised he would not impose before his party’s landslide 2011 victory.

Leaders of opposition parties trying to wrest power from Rajoy in the election condemned the assault.

(with AP inputs)