Squalid rent scam exposed: 11 illegal slum homes found on Spain’s Mallorca

SPANISH police have busted an illegal housing racket in Manacor, where 11 makeshift slum homes were being rented out for cash, despite having no sanitation, no running water, and no safety standards.

The so-called ‘homes’, cobbled together without permits, were discovered during a joint raid by the National Police and housing inspectors from the Balearic Government.

Inside, investigators found tenants sharing communal bathrooms, surrounded by rotting rubbish, collapsing roofs and dodgy electrics.

The landlord is accused of profiting from desperation by cramming vulnerable renters – many believed to be migrants – into dangerous and degrading conditions.

He’s now staring down a potential €990,000 fine, with each substandard dwelling carrying a penalty of up to €90,000 under Balearic housing laws. Authorities have launched formal sanctions, calling the setup a ‘very serious offence’.

The scandal mirrors a wave of recent crackdowns across the Balearics, as officials move to stop the ruthless exploitation of the region’s housing crisis – and protect those left with nowhere else to turn.

A government spokesperson said the case ‘exposes the worst kind of landlord abuse’ and promised more action was on the way.

It has been revealed that in the past five years the Balearic government has imposed 108 fines for a total of €3.3 million against ‘slum landlords’.

In February a local police officer in Palma was slapped with a record-breaking €2 million fine for running a network of 68 illegal flats and converted storage units in areas like Gomila and s’Indioteria – all marketed as accommodation for immigrants.

That case, the largest housing fine ever handed down in the Balearic Islands, revealed cramped rooms with no windows, no bathrooms and no natural light, hastily built in basements, shops, and storage spaces – in clear breach of the law.

The rogue officer was arrested by the National Police after an inspection by the regional housing department blew the whistle

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