'If he had taken an iron bar or a wooden stick, he would have been killed.'
Video footage shows the horrifying moment a man chased his victim and beat him with an aluminium pole in front of shocked eyewitnesses.
It all unfolded on Los Abrigos beach, in Tenerife, Spain, and startled parents can be seen herding their children away from the danger.
Police said the attacker is a Dutch man in his 30s and the victim is an Austrian man who is 48.
Both had been living in caves and ‘have problems with co-existence’, according to police.
It is thought the fight started after the victim tried to steal the attacker’s wallet, according to the Canarian Weekly.
The victim was lying on the beach before the attack, unaware of what was about to happen.
The video shows the victim falling and rolling over rocks as he tries to escape the man who keeps hitting him with the pole.
Even when the victim tries to run out to sea, the man keeps following him and continues to batter him.
Children can be heard crying out in the background, and concerned parents scoop up their children and make a run for it.
An eyewitness said: ‘If he had taken an iron bar or a wooden stick, he would have been killed.’
A police source said: ‘The two people involved have no fixed abode, live in caves and have problems of co-existence.’
Another insider added: ‘Neither man, the victim of the beating or the aggressor, is a tourist.
‘One is from Austria and the other is from the Netherlands. They are of no fixed abode and live in caves.’
Following the attack, the man was assisted by lifeguards and photos show deep cuts to his back.
The man was handcuffed and taken to court and will undergo a psychiatric assessment by the court’s forensic doctor.
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