Palma Airport: Spanish police rush to airport to arrest British couple before flight home after not paying hotel bill in Palmanova

A couple of young British tourists aged 22 and 21 were arrested on Wednesday afternoon (May 22) at Palma Airport after failing to pay a hotel bill. The couple did not pay a 192-euro bill at a hotel in Palmanova.

The Majorca Daily Bulletin reports that according to judicial sources, at around 12.30pm the couple went to the reception of the hotel to check out. They tried to make the payment by giving the receptionist their credit card number however they were told that this was not possible and they needed cash.

The couple told her that they were going out for a moment to withdraw money from a cash machine and would come back - but they never did. The hotel manager reported the incident to the police and the Guardia Civil contacted the airport to check if they were there. The Guardia Civil arrested them both for fraud. 

The couple were taken to court on Thursday (May 23) and deposited the 192 euros. They were released and permitted to return home after buying new tickets.

A police source told the Majorca Daily Bulletin: “Everyone was a bit surprised that they’d wanted to cause themselves so many problems over a relatively small amount. We’d have handled things exactly the same if they’d tried to do a runner without paying a four or five-figure bill but getting yourself into this sort of mess over a couple of hundred euros makes you wonder what they were thinking about. It backfired on them spectacularly."