Holiday hell: The island of Ibiza, where two British women were raped this week

Four British women have been raped in as many days in the holiday islands of Majorca and Ibiza.

Arrests have been made in three of the cases - which were unlinked - and one of the suspects is a Briton.

One of the victims, Cheryl Maddison, 21, from Houghton Le Spring, Co Durham, waived her right to anonymity to share her ordeal with The Sun newspaper.

She told how she was stabbed and raped in a frenzied attack at her Majorca apartment as she returned home from work in Magaluf, just six days after she arrived on the Spanish holiday island.

She told the newspaper the man throttled her so hard she passed out.

"When I came round I was lying on the floor and covered in my own blood. I had a searing pain in my chest and I could hardly breathe I looked down and saw blood spurting out of a hole in my chest," she said.

She said she soon realised the attacker was still in her apartment.

"I screamed as he attacked me again. I was convinced I was going to die - he was so violent and angry I never thought I'd get out alive," she explained.

The man stabbed her again in the neck and she decided to pretend she was dead in the hope he would end the attack.

"Amazingly, it seemed to work," she said. "He left the apartment and when I was sure he was gone I grabbed the pillow and held it to my chest to try and stop the bleeding and staggered out of the flat."

She received treatment for stab wounds and a collapsed lung and spent two weeks in a hospital in Spain before she was able to return to Britain.

A spokesman for Durham Police said: "We can confirm we received, on June 12 of this year, a complaint from a 21-year-old Country Durham woman that she was assaulted, stabbed and raped in Majorca.

"At this stage we are trying to offer her all the support we can and we have made contact with the police in Spain.

"The investigation into the woman's complaint is being led by officers in Spain."

Wanted: An efit issued by the Guardia Civil in Palma of the suspect sought in connection with the alleged rape of British woman Cheryl Maddison

Meanwhile, a 31-year-old British man, who has not been named,  has been arrested following the rape of a 17-year-old girl, also in Magaluf.

She said she had met her attacker outside a disco. He had forced her into a narrow alley nearby where he raped her.

He was detained by the paramilitary Civil Guard in the same area and was allegedly identified by the girl.

The other two alleged attacks took place at San Antonio, on the west coast of Ibiza.

A British woman staying in the resort told police on Monday that she had been raped by a receptionist at her hotel after she asked for the key to her room.

She said the 44-year-old Spaniard took her to a room which was not hers and raped her.

The suspect was today in prison after appearing before an investigating judge.

The other attack reported in San Antonio involved a 24-year-old woman from Wirral, Merseyside.

She claimed that she was raped by two Argentinians aged 20 and 24 on Saturday.   

But the pair both claimed that they had sex with her consent, although they also claimed that full intercourse did not take place.

After appearing before an investigating judge they were released on provisional liberty. They were not asked to deposit any bail money.

The woman returned to Britain immediately after the closed door hearing at which she told the judge that she would not return to Ibiza for any trial.