A British man who was arrested on suspicion of attempted homicide after his wife plunged from their Benidorm hotel balcony has been released from custody.
The 40-year-old was held in the early hours of Saturday morning while his 36-year-old partner, who is also British, remained in hospital yesterday in nearby Villajoyosa.
Her condition when she was taken to hospital was described as "critical".
Yesterday, sources close to the investigation were unable to say whether the incident at the four-star Rio Park was being treated as an accident, attempted suicide or crime-related.
The same sources said the unnamed British man had been released after appearing before a judge in a closed court hearing in Benidorm.
He was freed without any protective measures - such as the obligation to sign on at court or a ban on leaving the country - suggesting he was not being treated as a suspect.
Court workers could not be reached to provide an official statement.
Following the incident, a spokesman for Spain’s National Police said: “Officers have arrested a British man on suspicion of attempted homicide after his wife who is also British plunged from the sixth-floor balcony of their hotel in Benidorm.
“The arrest is a preventative measure and it will be up to a judge to decide what happens next after the man appears before him in the next day or so.
“The couple were sharing the same room and we are talking about a foreigner who has no ties to Spain so we are under an obligation to make the arrest as we try to determine what happened."
Local reports said witnesses had told police the man was in their hotel room and the woman on the balcony when she went over the edge.
The hotel is set in a quiet area of Benidorm and is just a five-minute walk from the Costa Blanca resort’s famous Levante Beach.
The latest incident follows Scottish holidaymaker Kirsty Maxwell dying after falling from a hotel balcony in Benidorm in April 2017.
Five British men were cleared of any involvement in Ms Maxwell's death after a long-running probe.
A regional court rejected an appeal by her parents in July 2020 to persuade judges it was not an accident, and try to overturn an earlier court decision to shelve the investigation.
