Horror in Majorca as bodies with hands and feet shackled found floating in the sea

Police in one of Spain's most popular tourist hotspots are investigating the gruesome find of bodies in the sea with their hands and feet tied up. At least five corpses have been recovered by the Civil Guard in the Balearic Sea off Majorca.

They are believed to be migrants who had tried to reach the Spanish coastline via a dangerous crossing from Algeria, a journey which has claimed thousands of lives. Other bodies have been washing up on beaches but these particular ones have been shackled, leading police to believe they had been murdered for some unknown reason.

Police have opened an investigation to clarify the circumstances of the deaths. However, the investigations are almost impossible because the occupants of the boats are aware that they are in an irregular situation and do not report the abuses they suffer during the crossings from the Algerian coast.

The discovery of these bodies has taken place over the last month, although the police have maintained total secrecy about the investigations. One of them was recovered on May 18 at around 5pm in the afternoon. A private Belgian-flagged vessel sailing in waters west of Formentera raised the alert after spotting a body floating in the sea.

After receiving the warning, the patrol boat of the Civil Guard Río Segura went to the scene, which, despite being based in the Canary Islands, had moved to the Balearic Islands to carry out patrol services.

The crew members of the Río Segura went to the point marked by the Belgian boat, and about two hours later, they located the lifeless body floating in the sea. When the Civil Guards recovered the body, they discovered that he was tied hand and foot and was wearing an orange life jacket.

The Civil Guard patrol boat transferred the body to the vicinity of Cap de Barbaria, south of Formentera, where it was transferred to a boat that took it ashore. The body was later examined by Civil Guard agents and a forensic doctor in an attempt to clarify the circumstances of the death.

A few days later, another body appeared in similar circumstances, also in the waters of Formentera. And they have been repeated several times over the last few weeks.

In total, at least five bodies have been found with their hands and feet tied, floating in different parts of the waters of the Balearic Islands. All of them presumably belonged to migrants who were travelling in a boat.

In all cases, the procedure provided for cases of violent deaths has been activated. The corpses are examined by Civil Guard agents and forensic doctors, who take necrofingerprints (if the state of the body allows it) or DNA samples.

Civil Guard investigators suspect that the migrants who appeared tied hand and foot could have had a confrontation during the crossing. They would then have been handcuffed and thrown into the sea, so they would be clear cases of murder.

The Balearics have registered in recent days one of the highest concentrations of arrivals of boats of recent times. Between June 20and June 22, security forces and Maritime Rescue teams intercepted and rescued a total of 344 people who were trying to reach the coasts of the archipelago in precarious boats. On Friday, June 20, 195 people were counted, while on Saturday, June 21, 106 were located and on Sunday, June 22, another 39.

The authorities are keeping surveillance devices active in the event of new arrivals, especially at this time of year when sea conditions make it easier to navigate in the tiny boats. In total, so far this year, at least 2,695 people have arrived in the archipelago in 130 boats, according to data from the regional government.

The situation is causing ongoing shock for tourists as bodies have been washing up on beaches, often badly decomposed. At one stage, a human leg was discovered in the sea in Can Pastilla in Palma, Majorca. Another body, that of a woman, had no legs. Another was simply a skeleton.

In the last six months alone, some 30 bodies have been found on the Balearic beaches, including in Majorca, Ibiza and Formentera, leading Spanish newspapers to dub the beaches "a graveyard".