The police in Mallorca have been uncovering more and more cases of fraudulent registration of illegal immigrants. This is registration with town halls - the 'padrón'. Immigrants pay individuals for this. With registration, they can get health cards and access to social services, for instance.
The National Police said some weeks ago that they would be checking town hall registers for precisely this reason and are now highlighting two cases.
In Arenal, a studio apartment had 28 people registered, most of them with "irregular" status in Spain. The owner admitted to the police that hardly any of them had actually resided in the apartment. He said that he just wanted to help them. He has been fined 10,000 euros.
Elsewhere in Llucmajor, 37 people had been registered at a particular address and the vast majority had irregular status. A fine of 25,000 euros was imposed.
In both cases, the owners were charged with a serious violation of immigration law.