A masked gang raped six Spanish women in Acapulco, authorities have said.
Five armed attackers broke into a property on a beach resort on Monday, tying up six men before raping the women.
The Guerrero state attorney general, Martha Garzón, said a seventh woman begged the men not to rape her and the assailants told her they would spare her because she was Mexican. "Fortunately, we have strong evidence to lead us to those responsible for this reprehensible act," Garzon told Radio Fórmula.
The mayor of Acapulco, Luis Walton, was later forced to apologise after he said the attack was "regrettable" because it would damage the city's image, but it "could have happened anywhere".
The comments triggered outrage in
Mexico and
Spain, and his office issued a statement on its website saying Walton "very much laments the misinterpretation of his comments, which were never intended to hurt the victims or minimise the facts".
The popular holiday destination, which attracted film stars and musicians in the 1950s and 60s, has made headlines in recent years owing to a rise in drug gang killings and extortions, but the violence has rarely affected tourists.
Mexico's foreign relations department said it regretted the attack, adding: "Up to now the investigations are being carried out by local authorities and they will be the ones to provide information."
In Mexico local authorities determine if organised criminal are behind an attack, and, if so, pass the case to federal authorities.
Security and drug analyst Jorge Chabat said: "Everything points to this being organised crime, because several gangs have operated [in Acapulco] for years … it's probably not the big cartels but there are smaller groups that carry out crimes on a permanent basis."
The Spanish embassy in Mexico City said the victims were receiving consular assistance and treatment.
Spain's foreign ministry had issued a travel advisory on its website for Acapulco before the attack, listing the resort as being located in Mexico's "risk zone".
The attack came three days after a pair of Mexican tourists returning from a beach east of Acapulco were shot at and slightly wounded by members of a masked self-defence squad that set up cordons in areas north of the city to defend their communities against gang violence. The vigilantes said the tourists failed to stop at their improvised roadblock.Acapulco was extolled in Frank Sinatra songs and Elvis Presley films. Elizabeth Taylor was married there, John F and Jackie Kennedy spent their honeymoon in a local resort, and Howard Hughes spent his later years in a suite at the Princess hotel.
Last week, Mexico used an international tourism fair in Spain to promote itself as a safe destination.
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