Majorca horror as bodies with shackled hands and feet found at tourist hotspot

A major investigation has been launched at a popular Spanish holiday destination after several bodies were spotted floating in the sea - sparking a murder probe.

At least five corpses have been recovered by the Civil Guard in the Balearic Sea off Majorca, with hands and feet shackled. The bodies are believed to belong to migrants who attempted to reach Spain via a dangerous crossing from Algeria.

The Civil Guard believe that the suspected migrants could have been confronted, handcuffed and then thrown into the sea. Detectives could treat the cases as murder due to the migrants being tied up.

The tragic deaths took place over the last month, with authorities failing to address the incident to the public. It has been reported that one of the bodies was recovered on May 18 at around 5pm.

READ MORE: Migrant boats carrying 300 people have been missing for 15 days near Canary Islands

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.

The Balearics have registered in recent days one of the highest concentrations of arrivals of boats of recent times. Between June 20th and June 22nd, 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 20th, 195 people were counted, while on Saturday, June 21st, 106 were located and on Sunday, June 22nd, 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, Mallorca. 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 Mallorca, Ibiza and Formentera, leading Spanish newspaper to dub the beaches "a graveyard".