Aged 18 and 19, the five Toulousans deny the facts. Three were placed in pre-trial detention.

Five French men aged 18 and 19 were indicted on Thursday for sexual abuse in Benidorm, Spain, following the complaint of two 20-year-old Norwegian women who accused them of rape in meetings. After being heard by an investigating judge, three of them were remanded in custody, communicated justice. The other two were released.

Left alone when her friend left

They were arrested at dawn on Wednesday in a tourist apartment in the resort town of Benidorm, in the east of the country, where they were on vacation, while "they had to return to their country the next day," said the Civil Guard in a statement. The alert was given shortly before 2 am by the health center where the young woman who accused them of rape, accompanied by her friend, had introduced herself.

She told the investigators that she had been contacted through a social network by young French people, before joining them, with her friend. Then everyone had gone to the vacation home of the young men. But in the night, one of the two Norwegians had left the house and the other was left alone with the five men, accused of having raped her.

"A very alcoholic context"

Both Norwegians were able to provide identity elements of the five French, thanks to their profiles on social networks. All Toulouse, they "are bachelors, nice kids, no problem young people in France," told AFP Me Frederic David, a French lawyer for one of them, stating that their families had gone on the spot in Spain. His client, he said, acknowledged "sexual intercourse" with the complainant, but assuring that it was a "consented and not in a meeting" relationship. "The facts happened in a very alcoholic context on both sides," said David, also referring to the "particular context of Benidorm", known as "a place of celebration between young people" and the "very explicit character of the dating app, Tinder ", used for the appointment.

A French policeman had participated in the operation that allowed the arrest of suspects Wednesday morning, as part of a summer collaboration program. The five French had been located and arrested "in less than three hours", welcomed the Civil Guard.