Marisol Yagüe, the mayor of Marbella, and 18 other advisers, lawyers and town councillors were arrested yesterday in connection with alleged corruption and profiteering from the property boom in the Mediterranean resort.

Marbella, once the haunt of the late King Fahd of Saudi Arabia and Adnan Kashogi, the international arms dealer, has become a byword for corruption as town hall officials trade building permits for kickbacks and other favours.