THREE members of a Spanish gang that broke into mainly hire cars in the Playa de Palma area of Mallorca have been arrested by the Policia Nacional.
Their principle targets were tourists transporting luggage and cash, with items left clearly on show.
One of the suspects barricaded himself in his home prior to his arrest and officers had to break down his front door.
Another tried to run them over in his car, before he was apprehended.
The three criminals- two men and a woman- are accused of 20 thefts from vehicles, as well stealing hire cars and road safety crimes.
The final tally of robberies could end up being much higher.
All of the trio have numerous criminal records for similar crimes and formed an organised group to steal from vehicles in Playa de Palma and in other tourist areas.
They used rental cars to travel around Mallorca committing robberies.
The cars were only hired out for day, but in many cases they were illegally kept for up to a fortnight.
The trio regularly changed their vehicles to avoid being identified by police patrols.
Their targets were hire cars booked by tourists and were burglarised just after they had just arrived or when they were about to leave the island- meaning there was plenty of luggage to plunder.
In many cases, victims had all of their money taken along with important documents like passports.
Two of the group were out on bail after beating up a tourist last year to steal a mobile phone.
They appeared before a Palma judge on Thursday, who imprisoned one of them, and bailed the other two.
