Ángel, the young man stabbed to death in Malaga who was devoted to his family and sport
Friends say the 21-year-old, who was killed in the early hours of Sunday morning, was "his father's right hand"
Ángel had been practising the martial art muay thai for at least six years, but he had started taking the sport "more seriously" in the months leading up to his death last Sunday morning in Malaga city centre. His coach Juan confirmed that Ángel was a passionate student, whose life ended too early.
On Saturday night, the owner of the training school met 21-year-old Ángel at the Feria de Málaga. They struck up a conversation, without knowing it would be their last.
With Bulgarian roots, Ángel grew up in Malaga, specifically on the streets of the Las Flores neighbourhood. He attended the Nuestra Señora de Gracia primary school and then studied at the Vicente Espinel (Gaona) secondary school. At 21, he was focused on helping his family and improving his physical fitness. "He was very focused."
Those who knew him say that Ángel was "his father's right hand" and that he was always helping him with the shop the family owns. Ángel also nurtured deep affection for his eight-year-old brother. "He took him everywhere with him - to train, to run...," say sources close to the family. His mother, who runs a clothing shop in Alameda de Capuchinos, just a few metres from her partner's grocery store and on the street where the young man was fatally stabbed, was also visibly affected on Monday.
David has known Ángel since he was three years old and he still cannot assimilate what happened. "When they told me that he had been stabbed, I couldn't believe it. Ángel? But he's the calmest person," he said. The same thing happened to Juan. Nearly a hundred messages in the training group chat set off alarm bells.
Manolo was the person who actually saw what happened, as he was with Ángel on the morning of his death. That night, they had gone out together. He remembers very little of the attack that started because of an argument and ended with Ángel's death. It lasted only a few seconds. Ángel collapsed in the bar where he had gone to seek help.
Although the ambulance arrived to take them to the city's Hospital Regional, Ángel had already died by the time they reached the health facility.
Carlos - a family friend who has known Ángel since he was a child - was also shocked. He and the family became close when they opened a shop close to his home. "We used to train together and he would ask me for advice. If I had to sum him up in one word, I would say honourable." That combined with a hard-working and family ethos - that's how Ángel's friends described him.
