Spanish police hunt 'serial rapist' who attacked British tourist

By GERARD COUZENS

Last updated at 1:29 AM on 11th July 2011

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A violent  serial  rapist is targeting foreign tourists in Majorca.ia

The man is believed to have attacked six women in the  popular party resort of Magaluf over the past three years and last struck five days ago.

Detectives are warning women to be on their guard as the holiday season gets into full swing.

Holiday playground: General view of Magaluf, Majorca, at night.

Magaluf is the number one  destination for British package-tour holidaymakers.

Around 95 per cent of the estimated one million tourists who flock to the resort every year are British.

Police have not disclosed the victims’ nationality, although one is known to be a British woman who was stabbed and raped in May 2008. The victim told how she played dead to save her life as she was attacked just six days after moving to Magaluf to start work as a barmaid.

Detectives suspect the same man raped a woman in the resort in the early hours of last Wednesday morning. She has been described as a foreign tourist. The dark-skinned attacker punched his victim repeatedly after pouncing on her from behind. He then raped her as she lay semi-conscious on the ground.

Detectives are now awaiting the results of DNA tests to confirm their suspicions that the attacks are linked. DNA matches have already showed that the same man also attacked a woman in 2010.

A source close to the investigation, which is being led by officers from the local Civil Guard, said: ‘We believe the same man is behind six rapes and attempted rapes of women in Magaluf over the past three years.

Guardia Civil: The Spanish Police have increased night-time patrols in the area

‘We haven’t excluded the possibility there may be more victims who haven’t yet come forward.

‘His modus operandi is the same on each occasion.

‘He targets young women on their own in the early hours of the morning, predominantly foreign tourists walking back to their apartments or hotels.

‘Typically he rapes them after using extreme violence to render them defenceless.’

Police have increased night-time patrols in the main nightlife areas, the Strip and BCM Square, which are home to dozens of bars and nightclubs. Hotel, bar and nightclub owners are thought to have been given a description and photofit of the man police are hunting.

He is described as a tall, athletic man with short hair and dark skin who speaks broken English.

The police manhunt comes after tourist chiefs in the Balearic Islands said they were expecting around three million tourists this year – the number that had been visiting six years ago before the recession.

Most of the holidaymakers are due to visit Majorca, the largest of the four islands that make up the archipelago.

A local tourist official, who asked not to be named, said: ‘It goes without saying that this man needs to be caught as soon as possible.

‘He’s a sexual predator who resorts to extreme violence to overpower his victims.

‘No one’s died so far at his hands, but that’s not to say it won’t happen if he’s not arrested soon.’

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