I have to say that these beasties give me the 'heebie-jeebies' too! Ever since my first solo trip abroad I have dreaded encountering a cockroach, big or tiny. At age 21 (a LONG time ago!)I flew to Athens for a couple of weeks, before sailing over to Israel for a few months on a kibbutz.
To cut a very long, sometimes grim and sometimes hilarious, story short, my first night in Athens was spent in a sleazy hotel in the midst of an awe-inspiring thunderstorm, without my luggage (still in Amsterdam...). The lightning was quite beautiful, except for the fact that every flash lit up the DOZENS of cockroaches that were clambering up and down my hotel room walls.
They were admittedly pretty small compared to some of the beasties I have met in the Port, clearly better fed on the fine Majorcan cuisine. Over the past few years I have had a few encounters, mainly on the streets around the Pine Walk, but the only time we have been truly bothered, troubled and a tad disgusted was when we stayed in the Daina apartments 3 summers ago - we had at least three big fat cockroaches speeding around our bathroom over the fortnight (we know this because we splatted 3 with a saucepan; yes, I know that is not wise as the eggs can survive and flourish but needs must, bleurgh...). The original post did make me smile as it was Daina hotel which offered them an escape from the critters

; glad if the cockroach situation is now much better than it was back then!