Moroccan man, 22, is arrested over rape of ‘young’ Brit tourist who was attacked in Spanish nightspot while on holiday with her family

• A man was arrested after ‘more than a year of exhaustive analysis’ near Alicante 

A Moroccan man has been arrested over the rape of a British holidaymaker on Spain’s Costa Blanca.

The 22-year-old alleged attacker was held following a lengthy investigation and ‘more than a year of exhaustive analysis of evidence’, the Civil Guard said.

The British tourist, described as ‘young’, was sexually attacked last August during a night out in Pilar de la Horadada, in the province of Alicante.

She reported the crime to detectives at the time before flying back to the UK with her family.

Detectives started with just a photo of the suspect’s friend to go off and worked tirelessly to track him down to the northern town of Logrono, 500 miles away. 

Pictured: The Guardia Civil in Spain arrest a suspect over the alleged rape of a ‘young’ British tourist

Pictured: a general view of Pilar de la Horadada, a town in the province of Alicante, Spain

A spokesman for the Civil Guard in Alicante said: ‘The Civil Guard, with the cooperation of local police in Pilar de la Horadada and Logrono, have arrested a man as the suspected author of the rape of a young foreign tourist.’

He added: ‘The incident occurred on August 15 2022 when a young British tourist, who was on holiday with her family in Spain, suffered a sexual attack near a popular going-out area in Pilar de la Horadada.

‘The victim reported the incident but could offer no information about her aggressor.

‘Police began gathering evidence as part of an operation codenamed Iven to avoid him absconding.

‘The victim was with a female friend when she met the alleged aggressor and a male friend of his.

‘The rape occurred when the victim and alleged aggressor were alone at one point.

‘Initially investigators only had the photo of the suspect’s friend to go on, which led officers to Logrono in the province of La Rioja where the friend was located and identified.

‘After more than a year of exhaustive analysis of evidence, the alleged aggressor was identified, a man known to police who was of no fixed abode.

‘He is a 22-year-old Moroccan. He was accused on suspicion of rape.’

The suspect is understood to have been released on bail following an appearance behind a judge in a closed court hearing. The judicial investigation is continuing.

A number of British holidaymakers went to police to report sex crimes this year in Spain, with several others being arrested on suspicion of carrying them out.

Last month a British man was charged with raping the female friend of his son at a Magaluf hotel and warned he faces up to nine years in prison if convicted.

The 43-year-old’s lawyers failed to strike a plea bargain deal with state prosecutors at a court in Majorca today.

The hearing in the island capital Palma ended with a trial date being set in February next year over the alleged sex attack in May.

The suspect, who has not been named by the police or court officials ahead of his trial, was held at Palma Airport over the alleged rape after ‘packing his bags and trying to return to the UK hours later.’

The British woman, thought to be aged around 20, told detectives she was forced to have sex after spending the last night of her holiday in the same room as her friend and his dad because she was returning to Britain hours later and had already checked out of her own room.

The older man was said to have surprised her in the middle of the night after ‘taking advantage’ of the fact she had consumed a large amount of alcohol and was fast asleep in a sofa bed despite her waking up and begging him to stop.

Reports at the time said the dad’s son was still out partying.

A British 18-year-old was allegedly gang-raped at a hotel in Magaluf in the early hours of August 14. Pictured: The BH Mallorca Resort 

One of the suspects in the case of the alleged gang-rape of an 18-year-old in Magaluf is led into a court in the Majorcan capital Palma in handcuffs by a Civil Guard officer, August 16 2023

A British 18-year-old was allegedly gang-raped at a hotel in Magaluf in the early hours of August 14. 

Five French nationals and a Swiss man were arrested and remanded in jail pending an ongoing judicial investigation and a further two suspects subsequently held in France on European Arrest Warrants.

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