Two youths are run over on purpose after a fight in Ronda village

It all started with a simple clash in a pub. Some young people from Ronda reproached some young locals from Arriate for having made a comment about Ronda. A totally minor incident that ended up in court because it is alleged that the former deliberately ran over the latter and gave them a beating.

The situation kicked off in the very early hours of 14 June in a pub in Arriate known to all as the 'chiringuito', which is located opposite the Virgen de la Aurora school. The pub is a popular meeting point for young people from the municipality and also from the surrounding area.

The first part of the incident occurred shortly after midnight. Some local youths were playing table football when they were approached by another group of young men. One of the locals caught the attention of the out-of-towners because, they allege, he had made a comment about Ronda, their home town.

An initial scuffle broke out in the pub which ended with both groups being thrown out. According to sources consulted, one of the Arriate youths suffered a cut on his arm from a glass thrown by the other party, an injury that later required five stitches.

To all intents and purposes, the incident seemed to have blown over. The two groups split up and each went their separate ways. The young men from Ronda went in search of their car and those from Arriate were heading home on foot. It should have ended there. Unfortunately, it didn't.

What happened next is not based on individual statements, who said what and so on, for the main incident was captured on the local council's CCTV system set up in the town centre.

The images show two young men walking shirtless down Calle Malaga. They are two brothers. The older one is 25 years old and the other 19. When they arrive at a street corner, one of them hears something that catches his attention and so he turns around, stepping slightly onto the road at a pedestrian crossing.

The next thing that can be seen is a car - a small, white utility vehicle - approaching them at high speed. The judicial investigation will determine the circumstances and whether this was intentional, although the direction that the vehicle takes does suggest that the driver deliberately drove at these two pedestrians.

The older of the two brothers got the worst of it and was knocked over by the car, from which two young men quickly got out - and then two more stepped out - to continue hitting them with their fists. The occupants of the car were the four young men from Ronda with whom the local lads had scuffled in the chiringuito.

One of the assailants kicked the older of the two brothers in the side, leaving him with injuries to his ribs and with bumps, bruises and scrapes all over his body. The younger of the two was also injured by the punching and kicking and was the one who suffered the earlier cut to his arm from the glass thrown in the pub. After leaving the brothers on the ground, badly injured, the four from Ronda left the scene in the same car used in the hit-and-run.

The two brothers were taken to hospital for treatment of their injuries, which they subsequently reported to the Guardia Civil. The officers quickly identified those involved and handed them over to the Ronda court investigating the case. They have all been released.

The mayor of Arriate, Francisco Javier Anet, declined to comment on the incident, but expressed his indignation and helplessness at what appears to be an intentional hit-and-run.

"They could have killed them," said the mayor, adding that: "I find it outrageous that the perpetrators spent less time in court than the victims." Finally, he stressed that Arriate is "a very peaceful town" where, fortunately, events of this kind just do not happen.