http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/11451779/Ibiza-to-be-patrolled-by-British-police-this-summer.html &%+((£
The Spanish government is currently negotiating the arrival of British officers to the island this summer and offering them free hotel rooms as part of the deal, authorities in San Antonio confirmed yesterday.
Up to 12 British police officers will be expected to patrol the streets in pairs alongside the Spanish civil guard.
Officials are hoping the British police will help provide increased security for tourists and locals, and intelligence on the Manchester- and Liverpool-based gangs who are said to dominate San Antonio in the summer.
Several drug dealers are said to pose as tourists and carry designer drugs in their suitcases.
"They are police officers who know the language and the idiosyncrasy of their compatriots," said Jesus Valdes, a Balearics-based government spokesperson.
“Hotel bosses have already offered these police free rooms,” Pepita Gutierrez, the mayor of San Antonio, said.
"The arrival of these officers, who will patrol with Civil Guard officers, will increase the security we want to offer both tourists and residents.
"It will also help local Spanish police concentrate on making sure by-laws like bar opening hours are adhered to so they don't find themselves overwhelmed by public order interventions," she added.
The new initiative follows a successful experiment carried out last year in Majorca where French and German police were called upon to do the same.
British police are said to have also been invited to work in the Majorcan resort of Magaluf this summer. Last year, the Balearic government declared it was aiming to transform the notorious resort into a “mature tourist destination" by introducing new curbs on [ censored word]ocial behaviour and an overhaul of hotels in a bid to attract a more upmarket crowd.
Ibiza has come under fire in recent years for several drug-related incidents, including a major raid of the largest gang of British drugs traffickers on the island in 2011. Thirteen people, including 10 Britons and two from Ireland, were arrested in a joint operation between the Spanish police and Britain’s Serious Organised Crime Agency. Some 3,600 ecstasy pills were seized, along with five kilograms of MDMA - a form of ecstasy - and four kilograms of cocaine. Also found were 69,000 euros (£60,000).
British holidaymakers were shown to be openly snorting cocaine on their balconies last year, in photographs and videos posted by locals on various social networking websites.
Alcohol-related incidents and fights are also said to take place regularly on the island. In 2012, the Foreign Office said many of the arrests involving Britons abroad were due to high alcohol consumption in popular destinations including Ibiza, Majorca and the Costa del Sol.
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How can the UK afford to send officers abroad to monitor Brits on holiday in the light of all the cuts?
