The Balearic government, the Majorca Hoteliers Federation, and the Spanish Tourism Bureau in London have taken decisive action in trying to curtail headline stories in the UK media claiming that Spain’s main holiday resorts, in particular the Balearics, have stepped up the terror threat level amidst fears of attacks this summer.
The Sun, for example, ran a story with the headline "Hols terror alert: Brit tourists warned over ‘severe’ Spain terror threat level as 40,000 extra cops are deployed". Similar reports have so far appeared in over 50 national, regional and local newspapers and on some TV news bulletins in the UK.
As far as the Balearic government and the Spanish Foreign Office are concerned, the UK media has misinterpreted reports about the launch of the annual summer security operation.
During the busy summer months, teams from the National Police and Guardia Civil forces - numbering in excess of 40,000 officers - are deployed to popular destinations such as the Balearics to ensure maximum security and safety quite simply because of the influx of millions of holidaymakers from all over the world, not just the United Kingdom. In the Balearics, the operation runs for three months, July to September. The media in the UK, which has also claimed that Spain’s terror footing has been stepped up, which is not true, has reached the wrong conclusion.
The British Embassy in Madrid yesterday stated: "There has been some media reporting about a reported increase in Spain’s terror threat level. We can confirm that there has been no change to FCO travel advice for Spain."
