Woman Arrested in Mexico for Tanning in Private Beach Area

Video footage of a young woman being led away in handcuffs - allegedly because she was sunbathing on a private beach reserved for tourists - has gone viral in Mexico and sparked a heated debate.

The 26-year-old woman, Laura Alicia Caldero, claims she was sitting under a palm tree on the Mamitas Beach in Playa del Carmen when armed police forcibly removed her.

According to friends of Caldero, guards were preventing locals from going onto the sandy stretch, which is located in the tourist area of Quintana Roo in eastern Mexico.

The beach is one of the most popular among tourists from Europe and the United States, and the video footage of the young woman's arrest has caused widespread outrage.

Police confirmed the arrest of the young woman, who was with three male friends. While they had all opted to pay a 1,600-peso fine (£70), the young woman had refused, and was then arrested.

But Juan Carlos Pereira Escudero, secretary of the Playa del Carmen Council, denied that the local was taken because she refused to pay for the shade from sitting under a palm tree. He said the young woman assaulted a group of private guards.