MADRID (AFP) - A judge has remanded a convicted child rapist who was arrested in Spain after a controversial pardon by Morocco's king was revoked in the face of angry protests.

The judge ruled that Daniel Galvan, a Spaniard found guilty of raping 11 children aged between four and 15 in Morocco and sentenced to 30 years in prison there, is a flight risk and would remain in custody while his extradition is being considered, the court said.

Galvan lacked "family, social, economic or work links that would neutralise the temptation to put himself beyond the reach of the justice system if he was set free," ruled Spain's top criminal court.

The 63-year-old was born in Iraq but acquired Spanish citizenship after he married a Spanish woman who he has since divorced, the court said.

He has lived in several countries including Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Britain and Morocco, it added.

Galvan was arrested on Monday at a hotel in the south-eastern Spanish city of Murcia where he once worked at a university after Morocco issued an international arrest warrant against him.

Morocco is seeking the extradition of Galvan, who was among 48 Spanish prisoners pardoned by King Mohamed VI and freed last week from jail following a visit in mid-July to Morocco by Spain's King Juan Carlos.

The pardon was revoked by the king on Sunday, two days after baton-wielding police dispersed several thousand people who tried to rally in front of the parliament in the Moroccan capital Rabat.

A royal palace statement said the king had been unaware of the nature of Galvan's crimes and on Monday the Moroccan monarch dismissed the director of prisons after an enquiry blamed his department for Galvan's release under royal pardon.