A 52-year-old German man has been banned from Spain for the next 10 years after he was caught secretly filming up a girl's skirt, known as “upskirting”, on the holiday island Mallorca.

A judge in Palma had at first sentenced the man to two-and-a-half years in jail, regional newspapers reported on Wednesday. However, the sentence was later changed to a 10-year travel ban instead.

The man was caught by security personnel at a shopping centre at the island's capital in September 2019 as he was trying to secretly film up the skirt of a 14-year-old girl with his phone. He had told police that he was filming it for YouTube and published such content online.

Prosecutors had sought a four-year sentence for the man, who was also fined €4,860 and must pay damages of €1,000 to the victim. Police were not able to identify the other victims whom the man had recorded on his mobile phone at the time.

It was not clear where he was from in Germany, nor whether he was living in Mallorca at the time of the crime or was just a tourist.

 - dpa