The quick-thinking bus driver asked the other passengers on board to get off because of his violent attitude.
When police arrived the 48-year-old threatened to harm himself with the same weapon he had used against the cabbie, a type of punch for making small holes in wood or leather.
The breakfast-time drama occurred in the Majorcan capital Palma.
A spokesman for National Police on the island, where there is growing unrest over so-called tourist saturation as well as the type of holidaymakers Majorca receives in some areas, said: “Officers have arrested a British man aged 48 on suspicion of robbery and intimidation against a taxi driver he threatened with a sharp weapon.
“The suspect then boarded a bus which the driver had to evacuate before locking him inside.
“The incident occurred when a man got into a taxi displaying a hostile attitude and telling the driver to take him to the S’Arenal area of Majorca.
“The taxi driver responded by asking him to get out of the vehicle and after a brief argument the British man produced the weapon and threatened the cabbie with it.
“Due to the threats the driver fled his vehicle and the suspect stole his mobile and got out as well before heading to a bus stop in a square in Palma called Plaza de la Reina.
“The taxi driver continued to monitor the British man whilst alerting the police.
“Once he got to the bus stop the foreigner got onto a bus where there were other passengers.
“The driver of that bus, on seeing the man’s attitude and to protect the safety of the other passengers, decided to evacuate the vehicle and get off with them and then closed the door from outside until the police arrived.”
The police force added in a statement: “When officers arrived they found the bus empty and the British man barefoot inside at the back in a state of clear agitation.
“He had a sort of punch in his hand. After being informed about what had happened they boarded the bus.
“When the man saw the police he made as if to stab himself with it while saying: ‘If you come near I’ll do it’ as he held it to his neck.
“The officers tried to get him to desist and after several attempts, managed to get him to throw the weapon on the ground before arresting him.
“The taxi driver’s mobile phone was recovered and returned to him.”
The unnamed suspect is understood to have appeared in court after time in a police cell. It was not immediately clear today if he had been remanded in custody or released on bail pending an ongoing investigation into the incident, which happened around 7am last Thursday.
Just over a week earlier eight drunken stag do’ revellers were arrested after a punch-up on a beach in Majorca.
The detainees included construction boss groom Connor Lorimer, 29, and his best man.
They spent two nights in a police cell with six friends before being bailed by a judge and told they would have to pay POUNDS 850 to recover their passports.
The investigation into the May 29 incident at upmarket Balneario Illetas beach club a short drive from Palma is continuing.
The Brits were released from custody in time to celebrate ‘Wedding Part 2’ at Es Riquers Rural Hotel in Llucmajor.
The Majorcan knees-up followed St Albans, Herts-based Connor’s legal wedding to wife Lauren, also 29, in a registry office in the UK in April.
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