They steal the keys, squat the home, extort the owner and illegally re-rent the residence. The ‘modus operandi’ of the squatting mafias is the same, but last week in Mallorca it took another twist. For the first time on the island, the objective was a hotel closed in the low season, like many of those in the Balearic Islands during the winter.
The ‘Sol y Mar case’ opened an unusual chapter that kept the hotel sector in tension due to fear that it would generate a ‘call effect’. And after seven days of conflict, the mediation of the Tourism Minister of the Balearic Government and a strange exchange of accusations between the owner and the administrator, the aparthotel was left free of occupants. A strange outcome that leaves several questions in the air. Who was behind this occupation? Could it be extended to more closed establishments? The investigation continues. A robbery in the middle of the Barça-Madrid match set off alarms in Sol y Mar eight days ago. Security cameras recorded three hooded men assaulting this aparthotel located in Cala Bona (Son Servera) in the northeast of Mallorca, 400 meters from the beach, taking advantage of the fact that it had been closed since October 31.
The Police went to the scene twice and found that there was no one, only damage, two forced doors, broken glass, drawers thrown on the floor, graffiti on the walls… They sealed off the area and left. The next day, the apartment hotel manager realized that the keys to all the apartments were missing: 52 pairs of keys with their corresponding copies.
“My fear was that there might be someone in there.”», explains this 42-year-old businessman in statements to ABC, who shortly after confirmed his suspicions when he knocked on the door of one of his apartments and a man opened the door. “He told me that he had lived there for a month and that it was his house because he had made a verbal contract with someone, he said that the law protected him and he started recording and threatening me,” he says helplessly.


A police surveillance device was set up at Sol y Mar, waiting for the judge to decide what to do with the four entrenched intruders, staying in spacious two-bedroom apartments equipped with a kitchen and bathroom just a few meters from the sea. The residents used the water from the pool to cover their daily needs, and had the logistical support of people who provided them with clothes, food and charged mobile phones from the street, since the aparthotel has not had electricity or water since it was closed. the establishment. The squatters claimed that they had paid 1,000 euros for the keys. One of them was of North African origin and is in an irregular situation; There were two other young Spaniards and a fourth resident, who was the first to surrender this Friday.
Sol y Mar maintenance employees they changed the pumpss of non-squatted rooms to prevent more squatters from sneaking in with stolen keys. There were families with minors who reported having been left outside with their belongings inside. “It is a lie that they are vulnerable people, the Police have come here and have verified that there are no minors, women or elderly people,” concluded a distraught administrator who complained that the current law seems to be against the owner. «They have every right to stay here without permission but I have to prove that I am not guiltycomply with the law to the letter and not get close to them.
Resistance until the end
Deyá, who employs between 15 and 20 employees in his hotel, did not know when this nightmare would end or if he would be able to open the business in April when the season begins and the workers join. “At the moment, the tour operators are behaving very well but this uncertainty worries me,” confessed the businessman, standing guard all day to prevent more intruders from entering. The squatters refused to leave the building and denounced him for coercion, illegal detention and trespassing. “I’m sad. “I don’t understand anything,” said the astonished businessman, who also filed a complaint against the illegal tenants for usurpation of use.
«I have survived the bankruptcy of the largest tour operator in the world, Thomas Cook. I have survived Covid. We’ll see if I survive this.”
Miquel Deyá
administrator
The ‘Sol y Mar case’ generated an alarm that led last Thursday to the Visit of the Tourism Minister. Jaume Bauçà He appeared at the establishment to show solidarity with the owner and ask the squatters to go to social services: “The solution is not squatting,” he told the illegal residents, who invited the politician to enter their apartments and told him luxury of details how they had occupied the place.
Everything indicated that it was a professional squatting network dedicated to real estate extortion that used minors to prolong their expulsion. But six days after breaking this case, the owner of the Sol y Mar attacked the manager of the aparthotel, airing aa debt of more than 200,000 euros and insinuating that Miquel Deyá was a restless squatter. The aforementioned denies it.
Finally, the last three squatters left the Sol y Mar this Saturday while a new front of conflict opened between administrator and property due to alleged non-payments and extortion. «I have survived the bankruptcy of the largest tour operator in the world, Thomas Cook. I have survived Covid. We’ll see if I survive this.», declared the administrator to this newspaper, aware that his case could generate a very dangerous precedent for the sector. “If they won, who would be next?”
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