The decision to extradite two Frenchmen to Spain suspected of killing a British youngster outside of a nightclub (at 0400 in the morning) on the Costa Brava in Catalonia's touristy Lloret del Mar will be made by a French judge on August 26. The two Frenchmen are also alleged to have passed counterfeit currency while in Spain. Both suspects are 21.
Andrew Milroy, a 15-year-old British expat, who had been living with his parents in Spain for his entire life was stabbed during an altercation outside a club last month. Both men admitted being involved in the fight which took place as they were leaving the club, but said they didn't know the youth had died. Both returned to France the following day.
COMMENT: The victim's family moved to Spain 26 years ago and run a trendy diner in Lloret del Mar. The resort, estimated to receive one million tourists a year, has been the scene of growing tensions this summer with fighting regularly breaking out in the many nightspots that line the coast. Earlier this month police in the city were forced to use rubber bullets during a stand-off with "party animals," believed to be mainly French and Italian, when they refused to disperse after the nightclubs had closed.
The nagging question in this case is what was a 15-year-old of any nationality doing outside of a nightclub at 0400 in the morning? Where were the parents? Tragic as the loss of the British couple's son no doubt was to them, if the son had had a curfew, he would not be dead.
Also, if unruly, potentially violent behavior is the norm in Lloret del Mar, and is foreseeable, where were private security personnel at the club and where were the police to proactively prevent loss of life?
