CNN
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The police in Spain arrested a man suspected of sexual assault after appearing to touch a television journalist’s buttocks while she was reporting live on the streets of Madrid.

The man spoke to Isa Balado, a journalist for the show “En boca de todos” on the Spanish channel Cuatro, while she was reporting on an alleged theft on Tuesday.

The man can be seen approaching her and then appearing to touch her buttocks as she speaks to presenter Nacho Abad in the studio.

Balado tried to continue his work on camera, but Abad asked him if the man had just touched his buttocks.

When Balado said he did, Abad asked him to put “this stupid guy” in front of the camera.

The camera then zooms out to show Balado and the man.

“Do you really need to touch my ass?” » she asked, before telling him she’s live on television. “I wish you’d let me work.”

He continued talking to her, before reaching out to rub her head, then walking away.

Balado then continued with the rest of his report.

In a later video segment, Balado commented on what happened.

“It’s very unpleasant, especially when you’re working,” she said, before the camera moved to show the man standing in the street with another man.

He then approached Balado again and tried to talk to her before she asked him to stop the show.

The incident sparked condemnation from Spanish politicians, including Labor Minister Yolanda Díaz.

“Machismo means that journalists suffer sexual assaults like this and the attackers appear on camera unrepentant,” Díaz wrote in a Tuesday statement. job on X, formerly known as Twitter. “This cannot go unpunished.”

Equality Minister Irene Montero also expressed her support for Balado.

“Non-consensual touching constitutes sexual violence,” she wrote in a statement. job on Tuesday X. “Only yes means yes.”

The man was later arrested and the Spanish National Police issued a message video on X of him being taken away in handcuffs.

On Wednesday he was released by the Madrid magistrate court. The judge did not impose any precautionary measures because she did not believe there was any continuing risk to the victim, the court said in a statement sent to CNN.

A spokesperson for Madrid’s Superior Court of Justice told CNN that the investigation and criminal proceedings would continue.

Balado’s colleagues criticized the decision to release him.

“That’s the problem,” presenter Verónica Dulanto said on Cuatro on Wednesday. “He hasn’t even been here 24 hours.”

CNN has reached out to Cuatro’s parent company, Mediaset Espana, for comment.

The incident comes as Spain faces reckoning over sexual assault and gender-based violence after Luis Rubiales, president of the Spanish soccer federation, was accused of kissing the World Cup winner female Jennifer Hermoso without her consent.

Rubiales resigned from his post on Sunday after weeks of harsh criticism.

The unwanted kiss on Hermoso came after the Spanish team’s victory in the Women’s World Cup final on August 20 and sparked condemnation in Spain and around the world.

The 46-year-old previously apologized and called the kiss “mutual” – a claim Hermoso denied, saying she did not consent and was disrespected.