A BRITISH couple were arrested at Mallorca airport after trying to return home without paying their £160 hotel bill.
The embarrassed duo, aged 21 and 22, were staying at the Palmanova resort next to Magaluf when they rushed to Palma Airport.
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The hotel claimed they tried to pay by credit card but this failed – so they left the lobby saying they would receive cash.
But instead they tried to flee back to the UK without paying the bill.
And they were met at the airport by police officers, reports Last hour.
The couple ended up spending the night in police cells before agreeing to pay for the trip – which cost around 192 euros.
The couple also had to shell looking for new flights back to the UK.
Spanish police were frustrated that the tourists had to be taken to court over a relatively small amount of money.
This comes amid growing anti-tourism sentiments across Spain – with protests last night in Ibiza and more expected today in Mallorca.
Anger is mounting over bad behavior and heavy drinking by tourists at popular resorts in the Mediterranean and Canary Islands.
Protesters are calling for restrictions on what they call “mass tourism” – which sees large numbers of sun seekers arriving in their cities.
The unidentified couple, aged 22 and 21, were staying at a hotel on the island of Hols.
They went straight to the airport after telling the receptionist that they would pick up money from an ATM 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 after their arrest, before being taken to court in the island’s capital the following day.
The case against them was closed on Thursday after they handed over the money they were accused of not paying.
A police source said: “Everyone was a bit surprised that they would want to cause themselves so much trouble for a relatively small amount of money.
“We would have handled things exactly the same way if they had tried to do a race without paying a four or five figure bill, but getting into this kind of trouble over a few hundred euros makes you wonder what they were thinking. .
“The plan backfired spectacularly.”
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Anti-tourism measures sweep critical spots
It is not just in Mallorca that anti-tourism measures are being implemented across Europe.
Many top holiday destinations across the continent are taking measures to prevent unwanted travelers from taking over their towns and cities.
Local residents feel they can no longer live in iconic destinations because they are overcrowded, unsafe and uncomfortable.
In April, thousands of people took to the streets in Tenerife to demand restrictions on tourists after telling Brits to “go home”.
Anti-tourist hordes filled a square in the capital brandishing banners, including some that said “You like it, we suffer” in English.
Protests also occurred at the same time on other popular Canary Islands, including Lanzarote and Gran Canaria.
The marches were organized under the motto “The Canary Islands have a limit”.
Hotel bosses in Benidorm have even admitted they are “very concerned” about growing anger among the island’s residents, but have branded holiday homes in Spain a “virus”.
More recently, the Committee on Tourism, Commerce, Employment, Culture and Sport reportedly approved an initiative to reintroduce a maximum limit for cruise ships in Palma, the capital of Mallorca.
Politicians are interested in implementing a new set of rules for cruise ships in terms of taxation, the environment or the use of less polluting fuels, to reduce the number of people arriving in the Balearics.
Elsewhere, Brits traveling to popular resorts in Spain for the bank holiday weekend were warned they could face carnage.
Protesters have vowed to potentially disrupt flights from Palma Airport – while others took to the streets in Ibiza.
Around 1,000 activists held up signs saying “We don’t want a cement island” and “Tourism, yes, but not like this” as they gathered outside the Ibiza Council headquarters.
Last night’s noisy protest in Ibiza town center came just hours before thousands of people head to Palma this evening in what is expected to become the biggest protest in the Canary Islands.
And just yesterday, riot police and anti-tourist protesters clashed in a violent confrontation outside a Louis Vuitton fashion show in Barcelona.
The main focus of the march will be the difficulty that local people have in buying houses in Mallorca, whether for rent or for sale, due to the higher prices that owners can obtain for holiday rentals.
But protesters will also highlight all the other aspects of tourist saturation that they say are ruining Mallorca..
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
