Town hall chiefs in the municipality of San Jose confirmed the arrest and the death of one of the trio this afternoon
Town hall chiefs in the municipality of San Jose confirmed the arrest and the death of one of the trio this afternoon.
The 23-year-old British woman injured was taken to an A&E unit at Ibiza’s main state hospital Can Misses where she is said to be “stable and conscious.”
The nationalities of the other two women have yet to be made public.
The accident happened around 11.15am this morning near a beach restaurant called Es Pueto in the municipality of San Jose near its border with neighbouring San Antonio.
The women hurt have been described locally as “foreigners” who were walking along the pavement “together” when a Jeep Wrangler driven by the unnamed Irish national came off the road and hit them.
It is said to have mounted the pavement and hit a lamppost before crashing into a restaurant wall.
The driver failed a drugs test at the scene. He is suspected of consuming nitrous oxide, better known as laughing gas, moments before the accident.
He was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs, manslaughter and wounding. He is understood to be aged around 30. It was not immediately clear if he was holidaying on the island or lives in Ibiza.
A town hall source said: “Initial inquiries point to him having consumed nitrous oxide moments before the crash.”
According to San Jose’s mayor Vicent Roig the accident began in the municipality of San Jose and ended in San Antonio. Local police are working on the ongoing investigation with the Civil Guard.
Staff at Nuestra Senora del Rosario Polyclinic, the other Ibiza hospital the two most severely injured women were taken, said this afternoon they were not in a position to comment yet on their nationalities. The survivor is said to be “very seriously injured.”
Last month two British holidaymakers were seriously injured after being hit by a car in Ibiza driven by a 24-year-old Spaniard.
Mum-of-three Ebony Cordingley, 26, and her mum-of-two friend Lauren Holmes, 27, were rushed to separate intensive care units following the early-hours accident on the road between the island capital and San Antonio.
A GoFundMe appeal set up by the families of the two women has raised thousands.
Ebony also ended up in Nuestra Senora del Rosario Polyclinic.
In an update at the end of last month their loved ones said they had been told the women were likely to have to be in island hospitals “for weeks.”
A spokesman for San Jose Town Hall confirmed the arrested man was Irish but was unable to give out any more information on the nationalities of all of the women casualties.
He said: “San Jose Local Police today arrested an Irish driver after he hit three people in the Es Pueto area, resulting in one fatality and two serious injuries.
“The detainee was accused of reckless driving, driving under the influence of drugs, manslaughter due to gross negligence and serious injury due to gross negligence, after initial investigations revealed evidence of nitrous oxide consumption moments before the accident.
“In the coming hours, data will be extracted from the vehicle’s control unit, which will provide quantitative information about the driving at the time of the incident.
“It should be noted that citizen cooperation and the large number of people and vehicles in the area have facilitated the location of witnesses and images that are assisting the investigation.
“San Jose Local Police are currently continuing to work in coordination with the Civil Guard and the emergency services.
“San Jose Town Council would also like to express its gratitude to the Sant Antonio Local Police for their swift and professional collaboration during the incident.”
Jeep involved in the accident with police tape at the scene. Photo: Solarpix
News in 90 seconds – 8th September 2025