Health officials on the island revealed they had identified the source in a statement in which they said they were closing their investigation.
They revealed in mid-October that a 70-year-old British man had died in hospital in the island capital Palma after going down with the illness.
Regional health authority boss Maria Ramos said at the time that they were working on trying to locate the source of the outbreak in the Brit-popular resort of Palmanova next to the brash party resort of Magaluf with the help of a specialist lab in Madrid.
Positive samples were detected at an unnamed hotel in Palmanova where several of those affected were staying.
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A British tourist died of legionella in mid-October after staying in a hotel in Palma, Spain
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It was not immediately clear today if the Jacuzzi, part of an outdoors hotel installation, belonged to the hotel that closed down or not as officials did not name the establishment.
The regional health authority said in a statement: “From October 4 to November 16 we were informed of 27 cases of legionnaires’ disease linked to a particular area of Palmanova.
“The people affected included 26 foreign tourists who had stayed in hotels in the resort, 20 of whom were from the UK.”
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Legionnaires’ disease is a serious lung infection caused by legionella bacteria
The people affected included 26 foreign tourists who had stayed in hotels in the resort, 20 of whom were from the UK.
A spokesman added: “The tourists affected stayed in Palmanova between August 13 and October 13.
“He died in hospital on October 11.
“The investigation to determine the source of infection has concluded that it is an exterior Jacuzzi tub in one of the hotels in the Palmanova area.”
Since being informed of the first case on October 5, regional health authorities acting in conjunction with local police reacted by closing beach showers and a water fountain in Palmanova as well as water sprinklers and checking to make sure restaurants were not using water mist systems some were employing last in September.
Although legionella bacteria was detected during the investigation at different places in Palmanova, the ones found in samples taken from people affected with the illness only coincided with those located in the unnamed hotel’s jacuzzi.
Legionnaires’ disease is a serious lung infection caused by legionella bacteria.
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Twenty-seven cases of legionnaires’ disease have been linked to a particular area of Palmanova
The disease, which isn’t contagious and can’t be spread directly from person to person, is usually caught by breathing in small droplets of contaminated water.
It can be particularly serious in people with pre-existing health conditions.
Most deaths occur in people who are 70 or older.
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The hotel closed before news of the legionnaires’ disease outbreak became public
Three British old aged pensioners aged 73, 76 and 78 died from the disease following an outbreak at the four-star AR Diamante Beach hotel in the Costa Blanca resort of Calpe in 2012.
They were among more than a dozen pensioners struck down with the killer bug while on a Saga holiday.
Fifteen of the people affected in the latest outbreak were men and 12 women, all aged between 46 and 87.
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