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Tourism authorities in Magaluf have reacted to suggestions that police are instructed to turn a blind eye to extreme sexual behaviour by tourists in the notorious Balearic resort – and are more interested in protecting the area's infamous nightlife than clamping down on unsuitable activities.

Not much left to the imagination: Magaluf has gained new notoriety in recent weeks (file picture)

The Spanish sunspot, which sits in the south-west of Mallorca, has been in the spotlight in the last fortnight in the wake of video footage which showed a female British tourist performing sex acts on 24 different men.

Notorious: Scenes of drunkenness are common in the resort area (file picture)

The incidents took place during an event organised by Carnage Magalluf – a company which runs often debauched pub crawls for young holidaymakers on the island.

However, Cristian Alfaro, the head of tourism at the town hall in Calvia – the Magaluf municipality in which Magaluf is located – insists that the local police do their jobs properly.

He also argues that the resort is keen to drag its image out of the gutter.

'I don't think anyone doubts that the police are doing their job,' Mr Alfaro says.

'That's not our perception.'

'What happened [in the video] was not acceptable, and we don't want out resort to be associated with this kind of behaviour.'

Mr Alfaro insists that the negative publicity can be blamed firmly on Carnage Magalluf – and that the scandal is an isolated incident rather than a sign of a wider problem.

'This has been the irresponsible act of one rogue operator, which could damage the hard work we have been doing in the last years to promote Calvia,' he says.

Since the video emerged, the resort has introduced a new regulation which requires pub-crawl companies to be licensed, and keep numbers of revellers to a maximum of 50.

However, locals in Magaluf claim that antics such as those seen in the video are widespread, and are effectively condoned by the authorities.

Party capital: Magaluf has been caught in the spotlight since the video footage emerged (file picture)

'I have seen British tourists have sex in front of the crowds, without any shame,' one taxi driver, who asked not to be named, told the Press Association.

'The only difference is that now mobile phones have cameras and there are social networking sites to post the footage on.

'Part of the problem is that the local police look the other way.

'There are a lot of hotel spaces here, and they have to be filled somehow.'

Scene: The unnamed girl was captured on video working her way through men at Alex's Bar in Magaluf

The company that organised the pub crawl has tried to distance itself from the incident.

Paul Smith, head of Carnage Events Magalluf, says he was appalled by the video.

'I was disgusted by it. Disgusted by the young lady who was doing it,' he commented last week.

'I can't say that my reps encouraged that as that's not what happened.

'She should be spoken to by her parents. It's something to do with her upbringing.

Asked whether he felt any responsibility, Smith told 5 News: 'I've no moral responsibility for this – I wasn't even fully aware of it at the time.

'The girl involved even bought a ticket for the following night's Carnage tour. Carnage didn't encourage her, so why should I apologise?'