Moroccan Taxi Driver Brutally Murdered in Catalonia, Spain

Rabat – Mohamed Ezzeraiga, a 43-year-old Moroccan taxi driver, has died in Spain after being stabbed 12 times in the heart, neck, and back.

Ezzeraiga was brutally attacked while on duty in the city of Lleida, west of Catalonia, Spain.

According to local media, a witness called the police on Sunday at 2:30 a.m. reporting that “an unconscious and seriously injured man is lying on Sifo street in the Bordeta neighborhood”.

Police and emergency medical services found the Moroccan driver in a critical condition between two parked cars. His taxi was meters away with the driver’s door open and the engine and meter running.

He was then brought to Arnau de Vilanova University Hospital, where he passed away a few hours later.

The police discovered the murder weapon near the crime scene.

But there were no traces of the murderer at the scene or any eyewitnesses to the attack

The Mossos d’Esquadra, the police force in Catalonia, has opened an investigation to gather information and evidence, to help them identify the criminal, as well as find out the motive behind the crime.

The crime has caused a huge uproar among the Muslim community in Spain.

Abderrafie Ettalydy, a member of the cultural association Magrebeida, said “we are shocked by such a tragic event, especially that it happened during Ramadan, a time of peace and solidarity.”

In addition, the Catalan Taxi Union expressed its support and solidarity with the family and friends of the taxi driver, and demanded that the Mossos d’Esquadra find the perpetrator as soon as possible.

Taxi drivers of the city of Lleida organized a march today Monday, April 11th through the streets of the city, from Blondel Avenue, where Ezzeraiga picked up his last client, to Sifo street, in the Bordeta neighborhood, where the brutal crime took place.

The protestors rejected the brutal murder of the taxi driver and demanded more security for night shift workers, especially taxi drivers.

Ezzeraiga was born in Casablanca, Morocco. He moved to Spain twenty years ago.

He leaves behind a wife and two children, a five-year-old daughter and a one-month-old baby.

Ezzeraiga did not own the taxi. He had been working night shifts for Tele Radio Taxi Lleida for a little over a year.