Machete murderer was a “polite waiter” in Playa Las Americas
Residents of Cabo Blanco remain traumatised after a horrific machete attack in the early hours of yesterday morning (Friday) the southern Tenerife town, where a 35-year-old man killed his 10-year-old son, seriously injured the boy’s mother, and was later shot dead by the Guardia Civil as he chased neighbours and officers with a large machete.
Three neighbours attempted to rescue the 26-year-old mother, now named as Almudena, and her son after hearing screams from their second-floor flat on Paseo Santa Eulalia. One of them, Fernando, told Diario de Avisos: “It was like the devil in action in a horror movie. The apartment was covered in blood. There are no words. I’ll never forget it,” he said, still visibly shaken.
The attacker, who worked at a hotel in Playa Las Americas and previously at a cafeteria in Tenerife South Airport, was armed with a razor-sharp 60cm machete, and allegedly struck the child fatally in the forehead and left the mother bleeding heavily from arm wounds. Eyewitnesses described a chaotic and terrifying scene as neighbours tried to force the reinforced front gate to enter the property.
Fernando explained that he and two others managed to break through the door, drawing the attacker’s attention away from the injured woman. “He came straight for us. We ran for our lives. He slashed my finger as I escaped down the stairs,” he said. Moments later, police arrived, but the man charged at them as well, forcing officers to retreat before firing several shots that stopped him.
According to the Government Delegate, Anselmo Pestana, the child was found with a “very serious head injury,” while Almudena was in a “terrible” condition with multiple wounds. She was rushed to Nuestra Señora de La Candelaria University Hospital for emergency surgery and remains in critical care. Pestana expressed hope she would survive despite the “dramatic and devastating circumstances.”
Authorities confirmed that the attacker had no criminal record or prior reports of abuse, and investigators are examining whether he may have been under the influence of drugs during what neighbours described as a psychotic episode. One officer sustained a cut to the arm before the suspect was fatally shot.
The neighbourhood has been left reeling. Residents reported being unable to sleep since the incident. Some remembered the man as a well-known, seemingly polite waiter who walked his dog regularly, an animal that, neighbours say, was also killed during the attack. He had been living in Arona for around ten years with his partner and the mother of the child.
The case has been assigned to the Arona Court’s Investigation Unit, which is expected to transfer jurisdiction to the Violence Against Women court for matters related to the child’s death and the mother’s injuries.
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