Spain’s government has warned about a rise in hate crimes by radical groups after a brutal assault on a gay man by hooded men who carved the word “f****t” on one of his buttocks. Fernando Grande-Marlaska, the Spanish interior minister, said the groups were targeting anyone who was “different”. “Within these groups, the objective is being different due to a personal or social condition, such as race, ethnicity, ideology, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity. Yes it is taking place, yes it is being taken into account,” he told Cadena Ser radio station on Wednesday. Police in Madrid are investigating the attack on a 20-year-old man in central Madrid on Sunday in which eight men forced their way into the victim’s home, held him down at knifepoint and cut his lip and carved out the homophobic slur on one of his buttocks. The assault comes two months after the murder of Samuel Luiz, 24-year-old gay man, in the city of A Coruña in northwestern Spain. The killing prompted a wave of protests across the country and calls for action to tackle hate speech and give better protection to LGBT+ people. Spain has seen a more than nine percent increase in hate crimes, including those related to sexual orientation, in the first six months of 2021, according to government figures, compared with the same period in 2019.