Laurence Dollimore
A BRITISH expat is being investigated after sparking the evacuation of a Spanish shopping mall by leaving a suitcase in its toilets.
The unnamed 43-year-old has been told by cops he could face a public order charge over the scare at the Atlantico Shopping Centre in Gran Canaria on Sunday.
More than 2,000 people were ordered to leave the centre by police just after 6.30pm after security guards were tipped off about the suspicious package.
Bomb disposal experts were called in to assess the suitcase, but they soon found it only contained food and not explosives.
The shopping centre, a 15-minute drive from the popular tourist resorts of Maspalomas and Playa del Ingles, was reopened around 8pm.
The reason he left the case in a first-floor toilet is not known.
