ISSUE NO. 1664
25 - 31 May 2017
MALLORCA
YOUR PAPER, YOUR VOICE, YOUR OPINION
Enough is enough Hoteliers demand action over Brit claim cheats By Matthew Elliott British tourists pretending to suffer from food poisoning landed Mallorca hotels with a combined compensation bill of €50 million last year. After seeing no action from the UK government to tackle the sickness scourge, the hotel industry has decided enough is enough. Hotels on Mallorca and across Spain pledged to hunt down and prosecute any suspected fraudsters at a heated meeting of top industry chiefs in Madrid.
Tourists who are lured into feigning illness by slick legal claims firms will be charged under Spanish criminal law. If found guilty they will return to Mallorca at their peril. There were roughly 10,000 sickness claims against Mallorca hotels last year. The vast majority are believed to be scams run by multiple compensation claims websites in the UK. Tourists are hounded by cold calling tricksters who encourage them to lie for a reward. In the UK an Immodium
Mallorca mourns Manchester dead TOWN halls across Spain have united in solidarity for the victims of the Manchester terror blast. Many including those in the Balearics observed a minute’s silence outside respective town halls, with flags at half-mast to remember those killed and hospitalised in Monday’s attack.
prescription is sufficient evidence to launch a claim against the tour operator, which pays out and deducts the money from its later payments to the hotel in Mallorca. The number of such scams is expected to skyrocket again this year. As well as pursuing fake food poisoning claimants under Spanish law, Mallorca hotels are now demanding guests sign a document at check out confirming that they are in good health. They are working on fairer contracts with British tour operators from a re-
HOTELS: Have pledged to hunt down and prosecute suspected fraudsters.
newed position of strength as Mallorca has very few empty rooms and no shortage of foreign interest.
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