Armed gang rapes six tourists in Acapulco villa

Six Spanish women on holiday in Mexico were raped by an armed gang who broke into their rented beach bungalow in Acapulco as they slept.

Five masked men attacked the women after tying up their partners with telephone cords and elastic from their swimwear.

The rapists spared a Mexican woman who was staying with the group.

Acapulco’s mayor Luis Walton condemned the crime and promised that those responsible would be caught.

The attack happened in the early hours yesterday at Playa Bonfil just south of the city centre.

The gang fled with their victims’ valuables including cash, credit cards and mobile phones. The women, aged between 30 and 32, are receiving counselling.

Acapulco is one of Mexico’s oldest beach resorts and attracted Hollywood stars including Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra and Brigitte Bardot in the Fifties.

Ten Hollywood actors, led by John Wayne and former Tarzan actor Johnny Weissmuller, bought a local hotel and helped to turn Acapulco into one of the most fashionable resorts of the era.

Packed crowds have gathered on its cliff tops since the Thirties to watch professional divers plunge 130 feet into the shallow waters of the Pacific.

Thousands of American teenagers still travel to Acapulco for spring breaks every year. However, its glamorous reputation has been tarnished in recent years by the rival drugs cartels that have turned parts of the city into no-go areas.

Two Mexican tourists were injured on Saturday after trying to drive through a roadblock set up by locals who have formed self-defence groups to combat drug-related violence.

British tourists now favour alternative resorts including Cancun on Mexico’s Pacific coast, despite recent official figures pointing to a fall in violence in Acapulco and a rise in the number of holidaymakers there last summer, following year-on-year falls.