British man arrested after widow of doorman who was punched to death in Mijas is found dead after fifth-floor fall

The widow of the doorman who died while trying to break up a brawl at former Towie star Elliot Wright's restaurant Olivia's La Cala in Mijas has been found dead.

Romina, who had been married to José Rafael Pisani Pardo for five months before his death in April, was found dead near her apartment in Mijas on Saturday 14 October under suspicious circumstances.

According to sources close to the investigation, Guardia Civil arrested a 36-year-old British man who was allegedly having a relationship with Romina and had a previous record of domestic violence, Europa Press reported. The 33-year-old's death is being treated as a case of domestic violence, but suicide has also not been ruled out.

Authorities first received the alarm about 8.40am about a woman who had fallen from the fifth floor of a building in the Riviera Sol de Calahonda residential development. Police and medics rushed to the scene, but she was dead.

Mijas town hall told Europa Press that Romina was a registered victim in the Viogen domestic violence system. Romina had also phoned 112 Andalucía emergency services the night prior to her death after allegedly being assaulted by her partner and required treatment at hospital, but she did not wish to make an official report, sources told Europa Press.

The council condemned Saturday's incident which, if confirmed, would be the fifth case of domestic violence in Malaga province this year and the second in as many weeks. "From Mijas we will continue to work tirelessly to eradicate gender violence and provide all kinds of support to the victims of this terrible social scourge," they said.

It comes after the bodies of a husband and wife were found in a house in Benalmádena last week. That case is also being treated as a domestic violence incident. There have been 17 victims of domestic violence in 2023 in Andalucía and 52 across Spain.