Hoteliers in Mallorca are taking measures to seek to ensure there is no repeat of last winter's squatting. Alcudia's Bellevue complex and Cala Bona's Sol y Mar Apartments were two highly publicised cases, the squat at Bellevue having been an entire block occupied by numerous people.
While there are plenty of security measures, a worry is that the publicity from last winter will encourage new attempts at squatting. Many establishments are in resorts which are very quiet at this time of the year; there is hardly anyone around. The lack of people can in itself mean a security risk.
Small business owners in particular, most of whom are not affiliated to the Mallorca Hoteliers Federation, have been upping their security. Although they aren't members, the federation has been focusing efforts on assisting them. This said, Bellevue is not an example of small business ownership; it comes under the BlueBay umbrella, while a division of Iberostar is involved with the management.
The federation's vice-president, María José Aguiló, trusts that there is legal protection. Squatting in a tourist accommodation establishment is "an obvious crime of occupying private property". She points out that there are existing guidelines for law enforcement on how to handle such situations. "Our goal is to avoid lengthy and costly legal proceedings, with the resulting harm to property owners and the affected employees, who are unable to return to work due to the disruption of business."
It will be argued that squatting in someone's house is just as obvious a crime of occupying private property. One legal difference, however, was highlighted by the Bellevue case. The tourism law was cited as justification for evictions overseen by a specialist company. The law points to tourist accommodation being paid for in advance. At Bellevue there clearly was no advance payment.