Issa Ballado: Outrage in Spain after a man appeared to grope a reporter live

Spanish police have arrested a man on suspicion of sexually assaulting a female journalist after he touched her while she was broadcasting live on television.

Issa Balado was reporting a robbery in Madrid on Tuesday when he walked up and appeared to touch her buttocks, which he denied when she confronted him.

Ms. Balado tried to continue, but the presenter interrupted her.

“Issei, forgive me for interrupting you…but did he just touch your ass?” Nacho Abad asked.

The reporter confirmed this, and Mr. Abbad asked her to put the “fool” in front of the camera, as the shot pans to show Issa Ballado and the man who was still standing with her, smiling and laughing.

“As much as you want to ask what channel we’re from, do you really have to touch my butt? I’m doing a live show and I’m working,” Ms. Ballado told him.

The man then denied touching her, and tried to tickle her head while he was leaving.

Police later said a man had been arrested for allegedly assaulting a female reporter while she was presenting a live television programme, in a message. Posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Mediaset Espana, which owns the news channel, issued a statement expressing its support for Ms. Balado after the “absolutely intolerable situation” she endured, and that she “categorically disavows any form of harassment or assault.”

Spanish Labor Minister Yolanda Díaz also spoke out about the incident, saying it should not go unpunished. “It is masculinity that makes journalists suffer sexual assaults like this, and the attackers are unrepentant in front of the camera,” she wrote on X.

The incident comes amid a row over sexism in Spain, sparked by former Spanish Federation president Luis Rubiales, who kissed World Cup winner Gini Hermoso on the lips.

His actions during the Women’s World Cup final led to widespread criticism, his eventual resignation and being summoned to court on charges of sexual assault and coercion.