The scare happened on Saturday evening, one of the busiest days in the Malaga carnival calendar, during the Parade of the Gods.

The 47-year-old suspect, who is from Malaga, had been spotted mingling among other carnival paraders wearing a shirt with the initials FBI on them and carrying toy handcuffs.
Revellers who saw him leaving the scene with the child in his arms stopped him with the help of his mother.

Authorities today said they believed the same man – who has been arrested and remanded in prison pending a full judicial probe – was behind a second kidnap attempt moments earlier.

Police suspect he picked his alleged victims at random and have so far ruled out the possibility he belonged to a child trafficking gang.

A relative of the child`s mother handed investigators a 20-second video she recorded on her mobile phone which included footage of the alleged abduction and proved key to the decision to remand the suspected child abductor in prison.

The footage is said to show a man dressed in black lifting the youngster from the ground as the child`s mother dances in front of the person filming her unaware of the drama playing itself out behind her.

He was already 60 feet away when relatives realised the child was missing and caught up with the man as he tried to run away with the infant in his arms.

The alleged abductor was held after stopping police in the area to tell them he had been assaulted, although investigators suspect at this stage it was an attempt to divert attention from his wrongdoing after being caught red-handed.

Miguel Briones, government spokesman for Malaga, revealed today that a second woman had contacted authorities to say the suspect had tried to abduct her seven-year-old girl before she threw confetti at him and alerted others as he fled.

He described the incidents as `random acts` but added: `We condemn what`s happened. It`s reprehensible.

`Not only did this man try to take a young boy but also another child.`

It is understood the suspect is known to police but has no previous for crimes related to child kidnappings.

The week-long Malaga carnival, which finished on Sunday, is one of the fun highlights of the year in the city.

Expat groups along the Costa del Sol advertise it on their Facebook pages and blogs and it is also popular with visiting tourists.

Malaga is also famous for its Easter week processions, which Tony Blair watched two years ago from a private balcony with Hollywood actor Antonio Banderas.

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