Mallorca and tourist criminality

As I say, it was a try-on. Perpetrators, in all likelihood, would never have considered that they may have been engaging in a form of fraud, while victim hoteliers would never have felt it worth their while pursuing cases. Once it became clear, as it did, that there was a systematic process for making fraudulent claims, the attitude changed. It had to. Hotels and tour operators were being done for what were cumulatively vast sums, these claims having been facilitated by legal procedures - those of the UK. Eventually, the police in Mallorca became involved. Arrests were made, not of tourists but of those behind the schemes. However, back in the UK individuals were now being taken to court. Evidence was firm. It consisted, for instance, of social media images of tourists having happy holidays at the same time as they had supposedly been laid low by some dodgy food.

It might be said that this was just a low level of criminality - or should I stress alleged criminality where organisers in Mallorca are concerned. There haven't been convictions; not as yet anyway. But regardless of the level, I refer to those episodes in the context of the serious matter of violence against women; cases of alleged gang rape in particular.

Hoteliers in Mallorca have welcomed an initiative by Spain's equality ministry to call for a sharing at a European level of tourists' criminal records. This proposal is with specific reference to violence against women and has arisen - at least in part - because of highly publicised incidents in Magalluf and Playa de Palma over the summer. While the hoteliers have supported the move, they also insist that this shouldn't be a means of stigmatising tourism or of loading an administrative burden onto hotels themselves. Above all, though, the hoteliers want increased security in order to make destinations safe.

As things stand, having a criminal record (for anything) can be grounds for barring entry into Spain. For the Schengen zone, however, this would be most unlikely to occur unless there was advance intelligence regarding the movement of particular individuals. With the ETIAS visa waiver, minor offences will not be a reason for barring entry, assuming that knowledge of these is provided or the police are in a position to make checks.

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These technicalities aren't what concern me here. The equality ministry, while it may have sound intentions, is only interested in and can only be interested in matters of record. With incidents that have occurred this year, would a system have made any difference? Did men who were arrested have previous? Maybe we will find out in the fullness of time, but I'm inclined to doubt it. The words of a member of the security forces in August tend to say it all: "These offenders don't consider themselves perpetrators of anything, because they believe that abuse is part of the holiday package."

The implication of this is that there are individuals who travel to Mallorca, perhaps with intent, perhaps not, but who either way end up committing an offence and presumably believing that they can get away with it. And an obsession with devices can provide police and courts with evidence - recording events. There's a similarity with how compensation claimants were caught out, but only a similarity, as there are events that are way more sinister than others.

When Carlo Heuvelman died as a result of a beating by a group of Dutch tourists in Playa de Palma in July 2021, the police reckoned that they had travelled to Mallorca with intent - not to see anyone dead but to engage in assaults. How could any control system have prevented the death? That incident highlights the specifics of what the equality ministry is proposing - the specifics and also an irrelevance.

We can wrap these different episodes up in a blanket of tourist excess, but we are talking about something way removed from a drunk tourist urinating in the middle of Punta Ballena or Arenal's Bierstrasse. Controlling the sale of alcohol may be a means of prevention, but Heaven knows there are enough ways around this, always assuming that one accepts that alcohol is solely to be blamed. I would certainly dispute that.

A solution lies, as is the desire of authorities, in altering the whole atmosphere of certain destinations. Maybe so. But can incidents ever be entirely eradicated? Ultimately, it is down to individuals' mentalities. The Balearic tourism ministry can speak all it likes about rebranding the excesses law with "responsible", Spain's equality ministry can call for the sharing of criminal records, but whether a petty fraud or acts that are far darker, you can never guarantee a solution.