A JOINT Guardia Civil and Policia Nacional operation has dismantled a gang that trafficked and sexually exploited South American woman in Eastern Spain.

Flats and premises were used as brothels in the Murcia, Valencia, Alicante, Malaga, Tarragona and Barcelona areas.

Officers freed a ‘large’ but undisclosed number of victims in addition to making a dozen arrests.

READ MORE:

The ringleaders- a Columbian and a Bolivian- were detained in Valencia province.

They face charges of human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation, money laundering, drug trafficking and belonging to a criminal group.

The organisation used websites advertising sexual services as the main way of attracting clients.

Women were sent to ‘work’ in nightclubs and homes controlled by the gang, who also took away their passports.

The detainees were taken for interview at various Guardia Civil and Policia Nacional stations before appearing before an investigating court.

Officers seized cash, mobile phones, doses of drugs prepared for customers, drugs for sexual stimulation and documents linked to sexual services provided by the victims.

PASSENGER records were broken for a fifth successive month at Alicante-Elche airport in May with 1.85 million travellers.

That record May figure is 5.8% up on a year earlier- itself an all-time high.

Around a third of passengers came from the United Kingdom.

READ MORE:

Cumulatively, over 7.2 million people have used the airport during the first five months of 2025, an increase of 10.9% compared to the same period last year.

The bulk of May’s travellers were international passengers accounting for over 1.6 million people- an annual rise of 7.5%.

Domestic passengers totalled over 224,000 which was actually 5% less than a year ago.

Alicante-Elche ran 11,697 flights last month, a 6.2% increase on May 2024.

46,681 services were operated between January and May- 11.5% more than last year.

The UK market dominated in May with 637,443 travellers; followed by Germany, with 112,760; the Netherlands, with 111,597; Belgium, with 88,876; and France, with 87,450.

Airport operator Aena said Alicante-Elche was the fifth-busiest of its facilities in Spain last month.

It stood behind Madrid, Barcelona, Palma and Malaga but comfortably ahead of sixth-placed Gran Canaria.

A MASS brawl in a Villena street resulted in a woman being fatally stabbed with a knife.

Three men aged 23, 40 and 43, and an 18-year-old woman have been arrested by the Guardia Civil.

The melee allegedly between two groups of Bulgarians occurred on Calle Lepanto at around 12.30am on Wednesday.

READ MORE:

The 23-year-old man has been charged with murdering the woman, 42, while the others are accused of causing injuries.

The victim and two wounded men were taken to Elda General Hospital where the woman died.

Residents reported a female shouting for help and for somebody to call the police.

Earlier on, the Villena Policia Local were told about two groups of ‘East Europeans’ throwing tables and chairs at each other at a bar on Avenida de la Constitucion.