An American tourist was attacked and whipped with belts by illegal immigrant street traders for trying to stop a woman being abused in Barcelona. The man, reportedly aged 45, was hospitalised after the unlicensed sellers, known as ‘manteros’, jumped on him in the middle of the city centre. In a video, recorded by a shocked onlooker, the man can be seen trying to get away from the attackers in Plaça de Catalunya.Local media report that the fight began when the tourist defended a woman who was being insulted by the street sellers after she told them they had not left enough space for her to cross the road with her pram.