Authorities arrested 14 people, mainly Brazilians, on suspicion of running the organisation and another 17 alleged prostitutes for being in Spain illegally, police said yesterday.

It is not known whether the male prostitutes service men or women.

Sex is a multi-billion dollar industry in Spain, with brothels staffed mainly by women from Latin America, Africa and eastern Europe. Respectable newspapers brim with ads from people selling their bodies. Prostitution is not regulated but pimping is a crime.

Police said the case is the first in which they have broken up a ring in which traffickers brought in men rather than women.