Five French tourists and a Swiss man suspected of raping an 18-year-old British woman have been arrested on the Spanish island of Mallorca, Palma police said on Thursday.
The incident took place on Monday morning at a party in Magaluf, a seaside resort on the Balearic island popular with tourists, particularly British holidaymakers. The suspects are all in their early twenties. They were taken into custody shortly after the discovery of video images relating to the rape.
A month ago, five young Germans were jailed as part of an investigation into the gang rape of a woman in a hotel on the island. An investigation was opened and is ongoing.
Spain was rocked in 2016 by another gang-rape case. Five men calling themselves “la Manada” (the pack) had then sexually assaulted an 18-year-old girl during the San Fermin celebrations in Pamplona. The court’s decision in April to sentence the five Sevillians to nine years in prison for sexual harm and not sexual assault – a category of the penal code that includes rape and carries heavier penalties – sent thousands of Spaniards into the streets.
Calls have since multiplied for a toughening of the Spanish penal code, which stipulates that there must be “intimidation” or “violence” for the charge of rape to be brought.
