On Wednesday, the Guardia Civil arrested an Alcudia Town Hall employee suspected of having registered some 400 undocumented migrants as residents of the municipality.
At 9.30am, the Guardia's Judicial Police went to the town hall building and arrested the 44-year-old employee, who is apparently registered as an Alcudia resident but doesn't live in the municipality. He is accused of having made the registrations in exchange for sums of money.
Two months ago, the town hall filed a report with the Guardia Civil regarding suspicions that an employee in the contracting department was registering undocumented migrants in the afternoon when the offices were closed.
Mayor Fina Linares says "this is an isolated case of malpractice, and we have applied zero tolerance". The person who has been arrested started working at the town hall in March 2023. He was initially assigned to the statistics department but was transferred to the contracting department eighteen months ago. Registration of residents was not among his duties.
The report to the Guardia Civil came about after a "notable" increase in the number of people registered in Alcudia was detected; this in a tourism municipality where places to rent as a main residence can be in short supply. There was also the fact that an individual went to the town hall to request a copy of the certificate. This person's registration didn't legally exist, although it had been included in the statistics census. The employee had apparently been going to the building opposite the main town hall building, which is where statistics and registration procedures are carried out.
Following an internal investigation, which pointed to registrations having been made by the same person after 2pm, the Guardia Civil were called in. Investigators have established that addresses were for uninhabited properties, including ones in poor condition and so uninhabitable, as well as plots of land. The identities of colleagues were allegedly used in order to gain the necessary access and give approvals.
The 44-year-old appeared in court in Inca on Wednesday. He was released on charges of aiding illegal immigration and falsifying documents. Once the police investigation is completed, those who were seemingly registered in an illegal fashion will be de-registered.