The Balearic Business Federation of Transport (FEBT) warned this Friday that the average 8% increase applied this October by the main shipping companies to the fuel surcharge will make the products that arrive in the Balearic Islands more expensive. Given this situation, the employers' association has demanded urgent aid from the Government to compensate for the increase in freight transport costs and avoid them being passed on in full to companies and consumers.

When the phone rang, a member of the National Police's Economic Crime Unit (UDEF) explained to Antoni what his brother had done: “Delivering a box of chocolates with 20,000 euros” to the Director General of Coastal Affairs of the Government, Joaquina Ferrer. “I couldn't believe it. My world fell apart when the Police told me that my brother had put money inside a box of chocolates and sent it to Coastal Affairs,” recounts the businessman, who is also very affected by what has happened.Antoni Barceló is his brother's partner and the administrator of the company Bennassar Naviliers SL, a company that aspires to authorization to carry out tourist maritime excursions in the Levante of Mallorca. “I had to go and testify, and it's a very big shock. It still doesn't make sense to me that my brother would put money inside a box and send it to a Director General,” he said in a telephone conversation with ARA Balears.“Obviously, I had no knowledge of it, nor would I have ever authorized it, because I believe our project is very well planned from a technical point of view,” remarks the brother of the investigated party. Benassar Naviliers SL is listed as an applicant to access the exploitation of tourist excursions in the Levante of Mallorca area, services that require authorization and to which other companies in the sector also apply. “Perhaps it's not right for me to say it, but our project is very well prepared and it's the best. The last thing we needed was to complicate our lives,” laments Bennàssar.