Brit couple, 21 & 22, arrested & locked up by Majorca cops after trying to fly home without paying £160 hotel bill
A BRITISH couple were arrested at Majorca airport after trying to fly home without paying their £160 hotel bill.
The shamed duo, 21 and 22, had been staying in the resort of Palmanova next to Magaluf when they dashed to Palma Airport.
The hotel claimed they tried to pay via credit card but this failed – so they then left the lobby saying they were going to get cash.
But instead, they tried to escape back to the UK without settling their bill.
And they were then met at the airport by cops, reports Ultima Hora.
The couple ended up spending the night in the police cells before agreeing to pay their way – which was around 192 Euros.
The couple also had to shell out for new flights back to the UK.
Spanish police were left frustrated as the tourists had to be hauled to court over such a relatively small sum of cash.
It comes amid growing anti-tourist sentiments across Spain – with protests last night in Ibiza and more expected today in Majorca.
Fury is growing over holidaymakers’ misbehaviour and boozing in popular resorts in the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands.
Protesters are calling for curbs on what they have branded “mass tourism” – which see huge numbers of sunseekers descend on their towns.
The unnamed couple, aged 22 and 21, had been staying at a hotel on the hols island.
They headed straight to the airport after telling a receptionist they were going to get money out of a cash machine when they checked out.
The hotel manager alerted police after they failed to return, leading to the couple’s arrest on suspicion of fraud.
They spent a night in a police cell following their detention before being hauled to court in the island capital the following day.
The case against them was closed on Thursday after they handed over the cash they were accused of failing to pay.
A police source said: “Everyone was a bit surprised that they’d wanted to cause themselves so many problems over a relatively small amount.
“We’d have handled things exactly the same if they’d tried to do a runner without paying a four or five figure bill but getting yourself into this sort of mess over a couple of hundred euros makes you wonder what they were thinking about.
“It backfired on them spectacularly.”
Anti-tourist measures sweeping hotspots
IT isn't just Majorca where anti-tourist measures are being implemented across Europe.
Many top holiday destinations across the continent are taking action to prevent unwanted travellers from taking over their towns and cities.
Locals feel they can no longer live in the iconic destinations because they have become overcrowded, unsafe and uncomfortable.
In April, thousands of people took to the streets in Tenerife to demand restrictions on holidaymakers after telling Brits to “go home”.
The anti-tourist hordes filled a square in the capital brandishing banners including some that read “You enjoy we suffer” in English.
Protests also took place at the same time on other popular Canary islands including Lanzarote and Gran Canaria.
The marches were organised under the slogan “The Canary Islands have a limit.”
Hotel bosses in Benidorm have even admitted they are “very worried” by the anger growing amongst island residents but branded holiday homes in Spain a “virus”.
More recently, the Committee on Tourism, Trade, Employment, Culture and Sport reportedly approved an initiative to reintroduce a cap on cruise ships to Palma, Majorca’s capital.
Politicians are keen to implement a new set of rules on cruise ships in terms of taxation, the environment or the use of less polluting fuels to lower numbers coming into the Balearics.
Elsewhere, Brits travelling to popular Spanish resorts for the Bank Holiday Weekend were warned they could face carnage.
Protesters had vowed to potentially disrupt flights from Palma Airport – as others took to the streets in Ibiza.
Some 1,000 campaigners held up banners saying “We don’t want an island of cement” and “Tourism, yes but not like this” as they massed outside Ibiza Council’s HQ.
Last night’s noisy Ibiza town centre protest took place just hours before thousands more head over to Palma this evening in what is expected to become the largest protest in the Canary Islands.
And just yesterday, riot cops and anti-tourist protesters went head-to-head in a violent clash outside a Louis Vuitton fashion show in Barcelona.
The main focus of the march will be the difficulty local people have in affording homes in Majorca, either for rent or sale, due to the higher prices owners can get for holiday rentals
But protesters will also spotlight all other aspects of tourist saturation which they say is ruining Majorca.