"These chocolates for you": the alleged bribe in exchange for a ticket booth for swallows

Cala BetterThe owner of tourist swallows from Portocristo, arrested this week for allegedly trying to bribe the Director General of Costs of the Government, Maria Joaquina Ferrer, wanted to obtain the concession for a ticket sales booth on the Cala Millor jetty.

This company has three boats: two transparent-bottomed catamarans and a speed boat. After refusing to testify before the judge, he is free, accused of bribery.

Last resortThe detainee requested the concession in October 2025, but the Government denied it after the relevant public exhibition, as did other requests from the same businessman in Cala Domingos, l'Estany d'en Mas, and La Coma, which in these cases were mooring requests.

Following the administrative denial, the businessman allegedly forced an unscheduled meeting a month ago (last March 19) with the Director of Coasts, which did not go well and, in fact, led to a heated argument because Ferrer did not want to discuss the matter.

“Take these chocolates for yourself”Given the Government official's refusal to even hold a conversation on the matter, the businessman allegedly handed her (through civil servants), presumably as a last resort, a box of chocolates with the phrase: “Take these chocolates for yourself,” which minutes later was discovered to actually contain 20,000 euros in cash, in 50-euro bills.