Holiday hold-up in Palma

AN Algerian tourist, 30, was arrested in Palma for allegedly attempting to commit a hold-up during his holidays.

He and a Sahrawi man, 19, allegedly approached a woman in Son Hugo car park and demanded the keys to her car, telling her they had a gun. However, they fled the scene in a rented car which was in the name of a woman staying in a hotel in Can Picafort. Her husband had taken the vehicle to Palma to attempt to commit the robbery.

In an unrelated incident, two men, aged 36 and 40, were arrested for their alleged involvement in eight robberies committed in shops in the centre of Palma throughout September.

In an operation codenamed ‘Barrio’, the National Police investigated robberies committed during both day and night using extreme violence to force open doors and windows to enter the establishments and steal cash and valuable objects.

Both detainees have extensive criminal records and one has been remanded in prison. The investigation remains open and further arrests have not been ruled out.