Spanish police have arrested a 40-year-old Dutch national on suspicion of shooting four people after a fight broke out in the early hours of Monday at a local night spot in the resort town of Marbella.

Various Spanish media had already said the suspected shooter was Dutch, which has since been confirmed by the Dutch foreign ministry, NU.nl reports.

A 32-year-old woman and a 32-year-old Irishman are in a critical condition in hospital. Two others sustained less severe injuries.

It is not clear what the row at the Opium Beach Club was about but according to witnesses a visitor who was removed from the club by security after a fight with the Dutchman returned with a knife and attacked him. The Dutchman then drew a gun and started shooting. He was also taken to hospital with knife wounds to his eye, neck and back.

Video footage made by one of the visitors to the club show a man grabbing a big bottle while others are taking off their shirts as if in preparation for a fight. Shortly after four shots were fired, causing panic on the dance floor.

Dutch social media celebrity Kelly van der Minne, was at the club and said she had spent 10 minutes of the floor ‘in fear for her life’.  ‘A woman next to us was shot in the buttock. This is just simply the worst,’ she said on social media.

According to Spanish media, the nephew of Spanish king Felipe IV’s Froilán de Marichalar and his friends were also at the venue to celebrate his 24th birthday. It is not known if any of his party got hurt.

A man who lives opposite the club said police had been called out ‘frequently’ in the last few months for other incidents. The Opium Beachclub is popular among tourists, including many Dutch. It was closed in 2020 because visitors refused to keep to Covid safety measures.