A CONSUMER protection board in the Balearic Islands has criticised Ryanair for not allowing Spain's offshore residents to apply the 75% discount they are entitled to by law for flights to the mainland.
CONSUBAL says it has been receiving numerous complaints about the Irish-based low-cost airline from customers who have tried to book flights to the peninsula but been unable to do so without paying the full fee, despite their legal right to a reduction of 75% - recently increased from 50% by Spain's government.
Residents in the Canary and Balearic Islands and the Spanish-owned enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla on the northern Moroccan coast have always been permitted reduced-rate flights by law with any company, since this is often their only feasible transport option between islands in their home region or to mainland Spain – and for administrative reasons, as well as work and leisure, they have to take internal flights more often than the average resident on the peninsula.
But Ryanair's site does not give them the option to take any discount – the only way they can book is by paying the full fee, CONSUBAL has denounced.
It has called upon the regional government and the State to take action against Ryanair and force it to comply with the law.
