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The mayor of Manacor, Miquel Oliver, says that Belkacem Bouchouala, the co-owner of the plot on the Camí de Son Rector where there are eleven shanties, is also the owner of a building in the town that was sealed off "because it was used to rent out substandard housing, and tenants were charged €300". Oliver adds: "There are two cases of substandard housing in Manacor, and it just so happens that both belong to the same owner. In the first case, the town hall was able to act because the building was on urban land and denounced it because it was illegal. The town hall therefore acted appropriately." The mayor is calling on Bouchouala "to retract statements" reported on Friday to the effect that the eleven shanties were squats and that he had charged no rent. "He lied the other time when we reported him for his irregularities." The Balearic Government's housing minister, José Luis Mateo, agrees with the mayor. "The owner is lying when he says he wasn't collecting any rent, because in our investigation into the eleven substandard housing units that were inspected on Wednesday, witness statements were taken, and they all said they were paying. We are in the very initial phase of the investigation, and the process is ongoing." Mateo says "work is being done to implement a set of measures to help the most vulnerable people and prevent some owners from taking advantage of their situation, as has happened in the case of the eleven substandard housing units in Manacor".
