A group of young Mallorca tourists from Germany are again suspected of raping a woman. Several such cases have been reported in recent months. What’s going on there?
This time too it started like it has so often in the past months and years: it all starts at a party, you drink and get to know each other. But at some point the situation gets out of control and the mood changes. The party ends in accusations of sexual violence.
That’s what is said to have happened this time: On Friday, two Germans were arrested for the alleged rape of a German tourist, the newspaper “Última Hora” reported. The victim is said to have met one of the two in a bar on Ballermann, and they both had consensual sex in the hotel and spent the night together. The next morning, the man’s friend is said to have raped the woman – and his friend watched idly.
The examining judge is said to have conditionally released the 27-year-old Germans on Saturday.
More and more reports of gang rapes in Mallorca
- Is Mallorca becoming more and more an island of excess? The shocking case from the weekend is reminiscent of the frightening incident in July: several German vacationers are said to have forced an 18-year-old from Germany to have sex or to have watched idly.
- At that time too, the victim met a man from the group on the playa. Of the six Germans initially arrested, four are still in custody on Mallorca.
- A short time later, seven French people and a Swiss man were arrested for allegedly raping a young British holidaymaker in Magaluf after a night of partying.
- At the end of August, three Brits who were staying in the same hotel were arrested: a holidaymaker accused them of drugging her and then abusing her.
The series of alleged gang rapes this year is growing; in fact, the number of reports of sexual assaults on the holiday island is constantly growing, and has been for years: while 89 rapes were reported in 2019, before the corona pandemic, there were 111 last year .
Nowhere in Spain do crime statistics record as many sexual crimes as in Mallorca. However, the police believe that the real number of sexual crimes is even higher. Many crimes go unreported.
The numerous rapes of the “manadas” (in English: “pack”), as the groups of men who commit sexual crimes are called, are also a big topic in the Spanish media. What are the reasons for the excesses?
Experts point out that most sexual assaults are reported in the high season from May to October – when there are particularly many travelers partying on Mallorca.
“At Ballermann, as the saying goes, people ‘let the pig out’”
Sexuality has been trivialized in the past, explains a lawyer in Ultima Hora. The proof of this is that the attackers are increasingly recording the rapes with their cell phones.
She argues that early access to pornography, particularly “violent porn that degrades women, hypersexualizes girls, and encourages increasing numbers of boys to participate in rape,” is a form of validation of masculinity.
Drugs and alcohol would also disinhibit tourists’ behavior, say experts such as psychiatrist Nahlah Saimeh. She explains to the “Tagesspiegel”: “At Ballermann, as the saying goes, people ‘let the pig out’.
Expert: Some men believe that “the woman’s body belongs” to them
And the term already shows that there is an underlying willingness to do something under certain circumstances that one would not do at other times in other places. First we celebrate and flirt together, crossing borders and breaking taboos are not far away.
Another major problem is the belief that “women’s bodies belong to men,” argues Rosa Cursach, former island director for the Equality and Diversity Committee in Mallorca.
A few years ago, an attack was reported every eight hours in Spain, but now it happens every three hours. “On the other hand, thanks to the work of feminist groups, sexual violence has a place in administration.”
Sexual criminal law in Spain has been tightened
In Spain, sexual criminal law was significantly tightened last year. Since October 2022, affected women no longer have to prove that they have defended themselves against sexual acts or have expressly rejected them. According to the new law, the “Solo sí es sí” law (“Only yes means yes law”), only a clear “yes” is also a legally sound “yes”.
This also means that silence or the lack of resistance must no longer be seen as a mitigating circumstance for the perpetrators. Rape is punishable by up to twelve years in prison, and gang rape can be punished by up to 15 years.
Gastronomy sends a cry for help
The national police in Mallorca are reassuring, their chief Francisco Javier Santos declared that Spain is a “safe country”. But in an interview with “Diario de Mallorca” he also explained that the crimes on the playa were directly related to excessive tourism. The “tourism of excesses” brings with it thefts, fights and even sexual crimes.
The restaurants, hotels and nightclubs have already turned to the media with a cry for help to draw attention to the alarming situation, wrote the “Mallorca Zeitung”. “The lack of control over alcohol consumption on the street and the lack of measures to punish these offenses are currently endangering the important holiday zone and also represent a danger for the future,” says the letter from the catering association CAEB, the nightclub association ABONE and the hoteliers association Playa de Palma quoted.
Drinking vacationers, they complain, are tarnishing the reputation of the area with their behavior. It has never been “as bad as this year”. The associations are calling for drastic penalties and an increased police presence on Playa de Palma.