Brit remanded in custody after 37-year-old killed on Tenerife's Las Veronicas party strip

A British man accused of killing another UK national in a fight in a Tenerife party strip brawl has been sent to prison by an investigating judge.

The 23-year-old was told he was being remanded to a local jail as part of an ongoing homicide probe.

The victim, a 37-year-old Brit who has not been named, died in the early hours of Thursday morning following the clash in popular nightlife spot Las Veronicas in the heart of Playa de las Americas in the south of the island.

He is understood to have been kicked in the head after being knocked to the ground in an altercation which involved glasses being thrown.

Security staff held the alleged aggressor before police arrived.

He went before a judge yesterday in a court hearing which took place behind closed doors, as is normal in Spain where only trials are held in public.

Although he has not been formally charged, standard in Spain where charges are only laid shortly before trial following a lengthy criminal probe by a judge which can take several months to complete, he is now an ‘investigado’ under Spanish law.

This means he has been placed under official investigation as part of an ongoing court-led homicide inquiry.

A court official confirmed today: “The person arrested in connection with the death of a man in the early hours of Thursday in Las Americas, Tenerife, appeared before the Duty Court of the Investigating Division of the Court of First Instance of Arona yesterday.

“After taking a statement, the magistrate ordered the suspect's provisional detention, without bail, while he continues to investigate him for the crime of homicide.”

It was not immediately clear today what the suspect told the judge, and whether he agreed to answer questions only from his defence lawyer or from the public prosecutor as well.

A secrecy order is understood to have been placed over the case by the investigating judge, a tool commonly used in Spain to protect judicial probes especially in their infancy, which limits the amount of information civil servants can give out.

Police on the island have confirmed the nationalities of both the arrested man and the holidaymaker who died.

Unconfirmed reports point to the older man throwing a glass at the younger Brit before the ensuing fight that ended with the 37-year-old’s death started.

Las Veronicas has made many headlines over the last few years.

Local business owners and residents say they are fed up with problems like noise and fights.

Months ago they were already warning that a tragedy would happen like the one that occurred earlier this week.

A local business association called The Circle of Entrepreneurs and Professionals of South Tenerife said after Thursday’s incident of the area where it occurred: “It is a war zone; sooner or later a tragedy of this kind was bound to happen.”

They are demanding greater police presence and stricter control of operating hours for nightlife establishments.