Attacks shake 'tolerant' Barcelona

Mack was beaten by undercover police

BARCELONA, Spain (CNN) -- The Barcelona Symphony Orchestra is trying to get by without its lead trumpet player.

Rodney Mack, an African-American, has had to miss rehearsals and concerts since last month, when he was beaten by police in Barcelona.

A leading civil rights group in the United States, the NAACP, calls his case "racial profiling."

"This has been the worst thing that has ever happened to me in my life, this attack on my person," said Mack.

He says he was walking to his rental car when he was grabbed from behind, thrown to the ground and beaten.

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The assailants turned out to be undercover police, looking for a black man who fraudulently rented cars.

Mack is not the person responsible, but police say he resisted arrest, which he denies. He is recovering in the United States, and has filed a suit against the police.

"I've been having very severe neck pains and back pains for the last month. I'm seeing right now an orthopedic specialist," he said.

Image of tolerance

Barcelona has long cultivated an image of tolerance. But lately some here are questioning that image. The incident involving Rodney Mack is not the only one recently that has raised concern.

Wilson Pacheco, an immigrant from Ecuador, died in Barcelona last month after an argument with several nightclub bouncers.

Police say one of the bouncers threw Pacheco into the Barcelona harbour, where he drowned.

Ivonne Guzhnay's husband drowned after being thrown into the harbour

Ivonne Guzhnay, Pacheco's widow, said: "I want those responsible to pay for this. I want them to remain in jail because they didn't have to kill my husband."

These two incidents come as Spain tries to adjust to a tide of newcomers . There are now a million immigrants here -- twice as many as six years ago. Along with the new faces come new customs, and new tensions.

Josep Guardiola, of the SOS anti-racism group, said: We're not going to deny that there are cases of racism in Barcelona, like these two cases, but Barcelona is a safe city that is open to the world.

Barcelona's mayor and other officials declined to be interviewed for this story, although they have expressed concern about both incidents.

Many people here are hoping they are just isolated cases and not a sign of increasing racism.