RACE RIOTS ROCK PLAYA DE PALMA

Of the nine detainees, eight are German and one is Austrian and they are all aged between 19 and 24.
Yesterday, they remained in police custody facing charges of allegedly causing a riot and grievous bodily harm. It appears that the disturbance, which involved some 20 people, stems back to an incident on Monday night when a number of African street vendors were apparently attacked by members of the large group of skinheads on holiday in the resort.

By the time the police reached the scene the culprits had gone but apparently not without having caused a commotion and damage to a bar in calle Pare Bartomeu Salva.

Numerous fellow holiday makers were said to have been terrified by their behavior.
However, on Tuesday night at 9.30pm, the situation reached a head.
When the same group of German and Austrian gang members returned to the scene of Monday night's altercation and began causing problems and a disturbance again.

An hour later, a gang member used a pepper spray on one of the innocent clients in the pub causing the bar owners to evacuate the premises as a precaution.

Attack
However, the bar reopened at around midnight and the skinheads returned, causing further mayhem.
Apparently, a group, with their heads covered with their T-shirts then attacked a 43-year-old Nigerian member of the bar staff and the young Germans and Austrians then set about smashing up the pub, over turning tables, smashing glasses and bottles and generally bothering the clients inside.

In response to the attack on the member of staff and the serious problems the gang was causing, the bar owners decided to call the police and within minutes, units from the Local and National Police were at the scene.

Of the 20-strong gang, many managed to slip away between the clients but the police caught and arrested nine, all of which had suffered various injuries as a result of their rampage through the bar and the attacks carried out on the Africans since Monday.