German tourists caught 'defecating in lifts' at hotel in Spanish holiday hotspot

The pair spent the night in prison before they appeared in court and were released on bail the next day.

According to the Olive Press, the two-star Hotel Leblon in S’Arenal, just south of Palma, reported that over €500 worth of damage was caused by the pair.

Among the acts of vandalism conducted by the pair, include emptying two fire extinguishers, defecating in a lift, and destroying a mattress and furniture.

The disorderly Germans, who have not been identified, were reportedly travelling as a group with their partners.

In recent years new tourist rules have been introduced in Spain in a bid to crackdown on unruly behaviour. Spanish locals have recently been using a nickname for tourists for years to talk about annoying Brits, and it's not complimentary.

Spanish locals have recently been referring to tourists as "guiri." Pronounced ‘guee-ree’, the term is typically aimed at or used to describe holidaymakers who enjoy letting their hair down and picking up a glass or two of alcohol.

It comes as Spanish authorities are encouraging the expansion of luxury hotels as they crack down on a surge in holiday rentals that has triggered anti-tourism protests in places like Barcelona or the Canary Islands.

The hotel sector has faced local restrictions on expanding but is now seen as a beacon for the high-end tourism officials seek to lure.

Spain is the world's second-most visited country after France and estimates point to a record of around 95 million visitors this year, or double Spain's population.

Local people have staged protests this summer blaming booming short-term holiday lets for soaring costs of housing and overcrammed city streets, prompting a thorny debate about how to limit one of the economy's main drivers.

Barcelona mayor Jaume Collboni said hotels can guarantee quality and labour rights better than short lets, which have curtailed local people's access to housing. Rents rose 68 per cent and house prices 38 per cent in the past decade.

In Tenerife, authorities plan to add 1,000 beds in new luxury hotels near an area in the island's busy southeast that already has the largest concentration of five-star hotels in Europe.

"We want to compete not as a low-price destination, but as a quality destination," said local tourism chief Lope Alfonso.