The National Police are looking for the mother of a newborn baby who wss abandoned on Friday afternoon on la calle San Isidro, wrapped in little more than a plastic bag.

Sources say that the baby was either newly born or just a few days old.

Police say that it is difficult to understand how the baby could be abandoned without anyone seeing the individual who placed it in the doorway as the street in question is a busy pedestrian thoroughfare linking Plaza Nueva in the city centre to Plaza de San Sebastian a little more than 300 metres away and to Avenida de España. In addition, there are many busy offices, an educational academy, a hairdresser and a beauty salon.

The baby was actually found by two such pedestrians who heard the cries and then saw the movements of the baby inside the plastic bag.  The immediately informed the Emergency Services and the Police and the baby was transferred to the Vega Baja Hospital where she was medically examined and said to be in good health.

The police also took away several more bags from the site containing clothing for the child which police are now examining, along with Social Services, in an effort to trace the mother.

It is understood that enquiries include making contact with hospitals as far afield as Alicante and Murcia, at which they will check recent births. They are also checking the baby’s DNA with known samples.

The most recent abandoned baby was found in Alicante in September but In this case, the child’s body was found lifeless inside a rubbish container. The autopsy revealed that the child had died a few hours before being found. Forensics found no sign of any violence on the baby.