A few weeks ago, the Spanish Airport Authority, AENA, introduced new regulations requiring all official holiday representatives, chauffeurs, coach drivers etc. to be officially registered with their employers and to sport an identification badge which clearly indicates that they are legal and known to AENA.
The airport authority has taken the move this year in an attempt to crack down on illegal pirate services which, just like the island’s tourist industry, have been expanding over the past few years. Initially it began with illegal cabbies either dropping off or picking up clients.
Over the years this has led to strikes by official taxi drivers and even clashes - which involved shots being fired.
However, while AENA is installing a new network of CCTV cameras to keep an eye on people attending to arriving and departing passengers, they have also decided to introduce new norms which will mean that all non-registered or recognised personnel will have to wait and operate outside of the terminal.
Passengers can now relax in the peace of mind that they will not, or at least should not, get conned at the airport.
What now remains is for the Balearic Ministry for Tourism to get a grip with the car hire industry which, unfortunately, has so many loopholes in it that the pirates are continuing to leap through them with immense joy every summer.