Brits visiting discos in Spain are being warned about a dangerous new craze which sees clubbers being injected with syringes containing drugs.
Various cases are being reported in holiday hotspots, including Ibiza and other parts of the Spanish mainland.
It follows the same pattern as other instances in the UK, Switzerland, France and now Spain.
One young woman of Spanish nationality reported one of the first cases to the Civil Guard. After partying with her friends in a nightclub in Ibiza, she noticed a puncture in her arm and realised she had been drugged against her will.
Other cases have been reported in Navarra, San Fermín and Catalonia where the police have opened investigations after 17 complaints within just a few days.
Victims are usually under the age of 30 and female but at least one man has also been injected.
Experts say liquid ecstasy or GHB (gamma hydroxybutyric acid) is usually used as the substance quickly disappears without a trace.
It can be administered orally or by diluting the drug in the victim's drink, although the one that is gaining prominence now is through injection.
"The aggressors use this method and choose the arms or legs to deliver the substance to the victim. The drug begins to take effect in the victim's body after 15 minutes after the sensation of the prick," one explained.
The young women who have recently received the punctures have raised the alert through social networks, revealing their symptoms so that other women in the same situation can act as quickly as possible.
The main ones are dizziness, vision and memory loss, inability to speak, numbness in the arms or legs, drowsiness, loss of consciousness and a rapid heartbeat.
The motive is believed to be sexual.
In Andalusia, police have confirmed they are investigating six complaints, including a 22-year-old girl of French nationality who said she was sexually abused in a Malaga nightclub.
She says she left the club with a man and they went to his apartment. She believed she was drugged and attacked "when defenceless" and woke up the next morning with two puncture wounds in her arm.
In Cordoba, police are investigating four possible attempts of chemical submission at a fairground.
And in Catalonia, there has been up to 20 complaints in nightclubs in Barcelona and Lloret de Mar (Girona).
Montserrat Escudé, spokesperson for Los Mossos police, said they are investigating this new "phenomenon" intensely, since they are aware that it creates "social alarm" and "anguish" in nightlife after pandemic fatigue.
The National Police of Cantabria are also investigating the punctures of five people who attended a beach festival in Santander.
One young woman who saw a man with a syringe in his hand before a friend was pricked said on the social network: "What was going to be a night out with friends has turned into a nightmare, into fear and anxiety. Now all that remains is to make it visible, because there is little else we can do.
"Learn to act and, sadly, assume the fear, because it could have been you. I have been afraid and anxious since last night and I don't know how to manage it well. I close my eyes and I continue to see the situation, which I wish I could forget."
