Spanish police have decided to get tough on illegal car races, which are a growing problem on the country’s notoriously dangerous roads and a threat to British holidaymakers.

Officers arrested 15 men in Majorca this week who apparently filmed their speed contests and broadcast them on the internet. Videos allegedly showed the men holding US-style drag races on the roads of the island, weaving in and out of traffic and screeching sideways around roundabouts.

“Analysis of the videos showed various persons who, with wilful disregard for the lives and safety of others, took part in car races on city streets and motorways,” the Spanish Interior Ministry said. Police arrested 15 alleged participants, all of whom were under 25 except for the organiser, who was 31. Fifteen high-performance cars were also seized as part of the operation, some of them with engines of up to 500 horsepower and fuelled with added nitrous oxide to give them even greater power.

The illegal races, known in Spanish as pikas, took place every Friday between 11pm and midnight on the streets of Palma de Majorca and drew crowds of youngsters who filmed them with video cameras and mobile phones.

“In these races, the participants put their own lives at risk as well as those motorists who happened to be using the roads at the same time,” the police said.

According to Manuel Vázquez, of the National Police, several parents called to thank them for arresting their children. He said that one had added: “Keep the car. At least that way my son won’t get killed.”

The accused ringleader, who dubbed himself Matías the Humble on the internet, is the son of a wealthy construction businessman on the island. But he was anything but humble, showing off his racing cars — including a Lamborghini Murciélago and a Dodge Viper — on YouTube. He is accused of running over a policeman while trying to avoid arrest.

More than a million Britons are estimated to live in Spain and 17 million visit the country each year. The British Embassy was unable to say how many were killed on Spanish roads each year but the Foreign Office warns British visitors to “take particular care when driving in Spain as regulations and customs are different from those in the UK and the accident rate is higher”.

The Spanish Government has managed to cut the number of road deaths slightly after introducing British-style driving licences with points lost for infractions, more speed radars and tougher enforcement.

The Government crackdown began in January after an elderly couple were killed in the northwestern region of Galicia when a car hit them during an illegal race. Videos posted on the internet recently showed two Ferraris racing each other at speeds of up to 150mph (240km/h) on narrow roads in the same region.

Bartolomé Vargas, the public prosecutor for road safety, vowed to apply Spain’s tough new laws with vigour because of the danger the amateur racers posed to the public. He vowed to pursue “not only the drivers, but the people who are behind them, who promote, organise, broadcast and organise bets on the races”.

Under tougher sentences introduced recently, those arrested in Majorca this week could face up to five years in prison if their driving is found to be “suicidally” reckless.

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