The workers were living in unhealthy conditions.

The workers were living in unhealthy conditions. | Policía Nacional

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterManacor27/01/2017 00:00
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The Romanian owner of an agrotourism establishment in Manacor has been arrested by the National Police and charged with human trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation and with offences against workers' rights.

The police say that workers were not registered with social security, worked thirteen hours a day without days off, and lived in unhealthy conditions in a basement without natural light or ventilation. They were being paid 1.50 euros per hour and were subjected to verbal and psychological abuse.

False job offers were posted on the internet. If accepted, the workers were paid to come to Majorca. This, plus their sociocultural situation and social isolation, pushed them to being controlled by the man now detained. He even made a false complaint against one of the workers, accusing him of having appropriated a day's takings, and did so in order to avoid paying compensation for an accident which resulted in the loss of a finger.

The worker made a civil claim against his working conditions. Investigations by the criminal police branch in Manacor and members of the Palma illegal immigration squad into the finca and also a stall for selling grilled chicken that the man was operating at various markets led to his arrest.