The man allegedly employed four foreign nationals who were in an irregular administrative situation in Spain, making them work without contracts for wages well below the usual rates in the hospitality sector.

Police said they were required to work shifts of up to 16 hours at a time and that the businessman ended up owing each of them between 600 and 900 euros in unpaid wages.

The investigation began after one of the alleged victims, a foreign woman who was in Spain without regular immigration status, lodged a complaint in August.

She told police that she had worked for just over two months as a waitress, cook and cleaner at a restaurant inside a sports club in the city.

According to her complaint, her employer knew about her administrative situation in Spain and offered to give her an employment contract so she could regularise her status and obtain a residence and work permit. However, the promised contract was never provided.

She also said that the businessman owed her 700 euros in unpaid wages and told officers that other foreign nationals were working under similar conditions.

Police investigations also established that two other women and a man, all foreign nationals in an irregular administrative situation, had also worked at the restaurant without employment contracts.

The officers learned that the employees had been required to work from Monday to Sunday, for shifts of up to 16 hours at a time and wages well below the usual rates in the hospitality sector.

Police also established that the businessman had accumulated unpaid wages owed to all four workers, with the amounts ranging from 600 to 900 euros. The debts were never settled and the employees were unable to recover the money after the businessman lost the concession to operate at the sports club and cut off contact with them.