Morocco Holidaymakers Face €2,000 Bill After Discovering Return Flights Were Never Booked
A Catalan travel agency is under investigation for alleged fraud. Several customers say they paid for trips that never took place. Others describe disastrous journeys home, with thousands of euros in extra costs.
Their flight was supposed to bring them back to Catalonia in just a few hours. For these thirteen holidaymakers, including several children, the return from Morocco turned into a 32-hour ordeal. At the airport, they discovered that no booking had been made for their return journey.
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The families then had to find a way home themselves. According to their accounts, reported by the Catalan media outlet El Gerió Digital, the new journeys cost them around 2 000 euros per family.
Their ordeal has put the spotlight on Nòmades del Món, a travel agency based in Banyoles, near Girona, Spain. Its manager is now under investigation by the Mossos d’Esquadra on suspicion of fraud.
Police have recorded three complaints since Friday 16 October. More than a dozen others are said to have been filed directly with the courts, according to sources close to the case cited by the Catalan press.
Paid-for holidays that never happened
The group stranded in Morocco is far from the only one seeking answers. A couple returning from Central America say they had to pay 4 500 euros to buy new plane tickets and cover an extra night in a hotel. The agency manager is said to have later reimbursed them for half that amount. The couple is still seeking the rest.
Other customers paid for holidays they were never able to take. Destinations included Japan, Egypt and Tanzania. The first reported incidents are said to date back to July and August, but trips scheduled for September and October were also disrupted.
Several complainants had previously travelled with the same agent without encountering any problems. She had been organizing trips for more than ten years, mainly online, before opening her physical agency around a year and a half ago.
The Banyoles office is said to have been closed for several weeks. A notice on the door tells customers to make an appointment. Some say they tried to contact the manager but received no response.
Some customers estimate that there could be between 20 and 30 potential victims. The case was referred to the courts in Girona on Monday 19 October. Investigators must now establish the exact number of people affected and the amount of money involved.
