TWO BRITISH POLICE officers have been sent to Magaluf in an attempt to deal with disorderly British tourists – and holidaymakers have already been spotted taking selfies with them.
Starting at 7am (5am GMT) every morning, the two officers – a man and a woman from the central West Midlands region – can be seen walking the deserted streets ofMagaluf, one of several notorious resorts in the Balearic Islands.
With them are four Spanish police officers.
These two British “bobbies” – both of whom speak Spanish, according to an AFP correspondent – began patrolling beaches in the area on Monday and will remain a week on Majorca before moving to San Antonio on the neighbouring island of Ibiza.
Sex and alcohol
Magaluf in Majorca attracts hundreds of thousands of British tourists each year, lured by the promise of easy sex and plentiful alcohol, while San Antonio also has a reputation for hedonism.
The two-week trial is aimed at helping the Spanish police in investigations where British citizens are involved whether as victims, witnesses or offenders, the West Midlands police force said.
Magaluf, where some 85 percent of holidaymakers are Britons or Irish nationals, made global headlines last year after a video showing a young woman performing oral sex on several men on the dance floor of a nightclub went viral.
Local authorities subsequently introduced new rules regulating pub crawls and have also banned “balconing” — jumping from one apartment balcony to another or into a swimming pool — after several deaths in recent years.
Spain already carries out international patrols in tourist areas in cooperation with police from Germany, France, Italy, Portugal and Morocco, according to the Guardia Civil.
Patrols
The joint patrols were initiated at a moment of tension between Britain and Spain over the question of jurisdiction in territorial waters around Gibraltar, which is claimed by both countries.
The latest spat erupted on Sunday when a Spanish customs vessel and helicopter chased suspected drug smugglers onto a beach in Gibraltar, in what London denounced as a “clear violation of of UK sovereignty”.
- Additional reporting Aoife Barry
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