Dear Sir, twice in the last three weeks individually foreign owned apartments in a small 22 apartment complex in Sant Elm have been targeted and visited by an official type person purporting to be from Touristica to establish if holidaymakers staying were paying rental fees.
In some instances they were asked to show their passports and their flight details, all the tourists were friends of the owners. Many tourists felt they had been intimidated and subjected to unprecedented hostility.
It has been widely reported that Touristica would clamp down on rental apartments due to the down turn in hotel bookings and the necessity to ensure quality accommodation, however, it was assumed this would be with tour operators who block book apartment complexes and not individuals with families and friends.
Although Sant Elm has several complexes which fall into this category, even publicizing the fact on apartment doors, the complex in question is clearly private owned.
Majorca, whose economic stability has long been established through tourism, has always been a safe and trouble free destination for English, Germans and foreign tourists alike.
Tourism is hard to establish and is easily lost. Perhaps Majorca could learn something from the English where you are free to move anywhere you like and nobody is going to knock on your door and give you the third degree.
Name and address supplied