Several months after a spate of so-called needle spiking cases at clubs and fiestas in Mallorca and the Balearics generated widespread alarm, police and the Institute of Legal Medicine have concluded that there was no evidence to back them up. Needle spiking, it was said, involved injecting people - usually young women - with a drug and with the intention of then sexually assaulting them.
There were reports of such cases elsewhere in Spain. A study of all cases has now led a forensic doctor at the Institute of Legal Medicine in Palma, Borja Moreno, to state that "absolutely nothing was detected". In the Balearics, the Guardia Civil investigated a dozen cases and the National Police another seven. There was no proof for any of them.
Among the cases was one of a 13-year-old girl at the fiestas in Can Picafort in August. Another case, and the one which attracted the most publicity, was that of a 17-year-old male who alleged that he had been needle spiked and robbed at a club in Playa de Palma. This ultimately resulted in his arrest for a suspected false insurance claim.