A Spanish woman who was shocked by the aggressive behaviour of a bus driver may give Malta another chance as a holiday destination after she was charmed by the kindness of the Maltese.

Isabel Reymundo Cuesta, from Madrid, had vowed never to return after “an extremely violent” bus driver tried to pull her out of her seat and off the bus when she demanded change after paying the fare on June 29.

The woman who remained “disturbed” by the incident wrote to the Public Transport Association, which on Monday said it would be pressuring Transport Malta, which regulates drivers’ licences, to suspend the driver from public service.

When contacted, association chairman Victor Spiteri later clarified the association expected an investigation to be held before action was taken, adding they were “well aware of this driver’s attitude”.

Ms Reymundo Cuesta had spent a week in Malta with her friend between June 24 and July 1. They stayed at an apartment in Mellieħa and went diving at Comino every day. Their relaxing holiday changed when on the feast of St Peter and St Paul, a public holiday, they caught a bus serving route 27 to Marsaxlokk at about 12.45 p.m. They bought two tickets – worth 94c – and gave the bus driver €1. When they were not given any change they asked for it.

“We had to ask him for our money – just like we did on other occasions – but in this case he refused and began to scream like a madman, telling us to sit down,” she said.

The bus driver, who, Ms Reymundo Cuesta said had a number tattooed on the nape of his neck, still did not give them their change even though he had a container full of small coins, including 1c and 2c, she added.

She said he continued shouting and swearing at them and walked up to where they were seated, snatched their tickets from Ms Reymundo Cuesta’s hands and threw them in her face.

“He became so violent he started pulling my arms to throw me out of the bus,” she said.

Stunned by the driver’s reaction, the two Spanish tourists remained in their seats as other passengers tried to calm down the bus driver.

“We were very scared and I called 112 from my mobile phone. They gave me the number of the Valletta police station and told me to speak to the police at the Valletta bus terminus,” she said.

However, they did not want to change their plans, so they remained on the bus. When, later in the afternoon, they arrived in Valletta, they filed a police report.

After she left Malta, Ms Reymundo Cuesta also complained with the PTA and the Malta Tourism Authority.

The PTA, which represents bus drivers, thanked Ms Reymundo Cuesta for her report and pointed out that, had she had filed the complaint while in Malta, they would have been able to take urgent action.

Mr Spiteri said the association was prepared to fine anyone who employed the driver in question if the tourist’s complaint was found to be correct and the authorities failed to take action.

Ms Reymundo Cuesta said it was never positive when someone was suspended from one’s job. But argued that in this case it was deserved,

Although, in the heat of the moment, Ms Reymundo Cuesta had vowed never to return to Malta, she is reconsidering her decision. “Perhaps I would be back before I thought I would! People have treated us very kindly in the circumstances and we have had a lot of help from Maltese newspapers and the tourism authority,” she said.

Transport Malta said it had not received any reports or complaints about the incident but was investigating the matter after receiving questions on it from The Times.

Ms Reymundo Cuesta said she would spread the word, even in Spanish newspapers, about her disastrous holiday. “Our only offence was to pay for our ticket and wait for our change as everybody does all over the world.”

“Malta’s image is becoming damaged because of this,” she said.

Questions sent to the police remained unanswered at the time of writing.

More items from The Times in the News section.