Palma: Woman wakes up on the street at 6 a.m. – Suspected sexual assault by taxi driver

Uncomfortable hours in Palma: Investigations into a suspected taxi incident

\n

It's one of those incidents you don't forget quickly after you went out in the evening at Santa Catalina: A 24-year-old woman from Sweden is said, according to her own statements, not to have safely returned home in the early hours of April 20, but woke up around 6 a.m. on a street near the Old Town Ring.

\n

According to her account, she had previously celebrated with friends and around 2 a.m. called a taxi because the group was too drunk to continue walking. Hours later she woke up alone in the vehicle – in the front passenger seat – without her phone and purse, and says that the driver had tried to sexually assault her.

\n

The trail: Camera footage and unusual driving behavior

\n

The Family and Women Unit (UFAM) of the National Police took over the case. Investigators reviewed surveillance footage around the Old Town Ring and spotted a taxi that appeared several times in the area in question. In the footage, the vehicle makes multiple laps, briefly stops at a parking lot, and apparently performs prohibited maneuvers to reach a specific location — a sign to the officers that something was not right.

\n

A tourist later found the lost phone and handed it to one of the friends; the phone had not disappeared for good. This at least confirmed parts of the woman's account, investigators say.

\n

Arrest and proceedings

\n

A man born in 1987 was arrested a few days after the footage was reviewed. He had been operating as a taxi driver in the city and was identified as the driver. When appearing before the competent judge, he invoked his right to remain silent and did not comment on the case.

\n

The competent investigative court has the case on the table. The aim now is to piece together the trace from the camera images, traces in the vehicle, and the testimony of the friends. Investigations of this kind usually take time — the police have not released any further details so far.

\n

How the neighborhood has reacted

\n

On the streets around Santa Catalina I have spoken to neighbors in recent days: many are unsettled. "People don't go out as carefree in the evenings any more," said a waitress in a small bar on Avinguda de Jaume III. Others remember how often taxis stop at night and then drive away again — no one thinks about such consequences when entering a cab.

\n

Such cases raise questions: check procedures, monitoring, and the responsibility of industry regulators. UFAM emphasizes that victims should come forward and that tips from the public are important.

\n

Legally, nothing has been decided yet. But for the young woman, the hours that morning are a burden that does not simply vanish with a single stroke. The investigations continue — and in Palma people are once again talking about safety at night, about trust and about whom you would entrust your life in doubt: the driver of a car you hardly know.