A British pensioner has been arrested in Spain after refusing to pay a £10,500 Ibiza restaurant bill.
The 77-year-old tourist was held along with five women all aged under 40 accompanying him at the table.
The group allegedly tried to get out of paying by claiming a seventh person they claimed had left a few minutes earlier had invited them to dine out.
It was not clear what the relationship between the group was. The restaurant has not been named.
A spokesman for Spain’s National Police, which released pictures of the group including the Brit in a matching Hawaiian-style top and shorts confirmed the man was arrested with ‘five women aged 24 to 39’.
The women were identified as two Argentinians, a Greek national and two Polish women only.
The man, pictured being taken into a police van, was arrested with five fellow diners
Police said they had been identified as ‘the suspected authors of a crime of fraud for refusing to pay for dinner in a restaurant on the island’.
‘The group dined out, consuming high-value meals and drinks, before refusing to pay the bill which came to nearly 12,300 euros (£10,500).
Restaurant staff called police who questioned the employees when they arrived, police said.
‘They told the officers the customers had alluded to a supposed invitation by a seventh person who according to the individuals had left ten minutes earlier and had reserved the table for them and also invited them to dinner.
‘They continued to refuse to pay without offering any alternative explanation to their alleged pretend excuse to evade their responsibility.
‘That led to their arrests.’
All six are understood to have already appeared before a judge, although it was not clear today what the outcome of the court appearance was.
They were arrested in the early hours of Thursday.
In May a husband and wife who had carried out a serial ‘dine and dash’ spree, targeting at least five different restaurants, were jailed in the UK for their crimes.
Father-of-six Bernard McDonagh, 41, and 39-year-old Ann McDonagh, were jailed for a total of 20 months after skipping almost £1,200 in food bills.
The married fraudsters had 43 fake identities – with 18 dates of birth – to help pull off their scams, it was revealed.
The pair faced justice at Swansea Crown Court Court, where they were condemned for their ‘cynical and brazen’ frauds targeting eateries across a 30-mile radius.
Their eat-and-run efforts cost businesses £1,168.10 – with the couple often ordering ‘large amounts of food’ including huge steaks, double desserts and extra drinks for their entire family.
The couple were ordered to pay compensation amounting to the total of their unpaid restaurant bills within 7 days.
File photo of Ibiza. The group are believed to have tried to leave without paying a hefty bill
A court heard the couple hit five restaurants across South Wales before they were finally caught after online appeals to track them down.
The brazen pair also ordered a slap-up Chinese takeaway delivery to their home before slamming the door in the courier’s face and refusing to pay.
Ann McDonagh told probation workers she specifically targeted the restaurants for luxury meals because ‘they were not something she could usually afford’.
The pair were finally caught after being captured on CCTV leaving a restaurant without paying after gorging themselves on T-bone steak and large helpings of tiramisu.
Owners of the Italian restaurant they targeted that time posted the video onto social media and it went viral with more than 12million views.
