Two ensaimadas from Mallorca that stayed at the Palma airport have ended up causing a political problem and a high-level meeting between the Minister of Tourism of the Balearic Islands, those responsible for Ryanair in Spain and the union of bakers and pastry chefs on the island. The ensaimadas in question could not be boarded on the plane and ended up being a gift to the airport staff because, according to their buyers, they had to pay 45 euros to transport each of them as hand luggage.
The controversy over the ensaimadas reached such an extreme that the Minister of Tourism of the Balearic Islands, Iago Negueruela, had to call a meeting to clarify the mystery of the ensaimadas that allowed us to get on the plane. Once the problem has been resolved, the airline Ryanair clarifies that it does not charge for taking this product on the plane and that it has never done so, despite complaints from buyers.
The company assures that the problem was due to a suitcase that they had not checked in, but in no case to the ensaimadas. In fact, it is the first complaint in years for the alleged collection of the ensaimadas in the airplane cabin. No company has charged to date for transporting this product.
Therefore, the traditional ensaimadas that tourists take to their places of origin after the holidays or those that the Mallorcans take on their trips to the Peninsula do not pay a ticket. This controversy already arose years ago, when companies began to charge for hand luggage. There was also an arduous political negotiation and it was agreed that the ensaimadas would fly for free.
After the 9/11 attacks against the Twin Towers, a new controversy arose over whether ensaimadas filled with cream or angel hair purchased outside the airport could be brought into the cabin, since the filling could be assimilated to a liquid, a product that it could hide potentially dangerous material, but the ensaimadas also won the battle and, unlike liquids or cleaning products, they fly freely in the cabin.
At the meeting held this week, in addition to the Minister of Tourism, were David Simón, Ryanair’s public policy director, and Gala Sierra, the company’s Public and Legal Affairs. Negueruela praised the willingness of Ryanair, a company that annually transports thousands of people to the Balearic Islands, to collaborate with the Executive and that after this meeting it has been possible to clarify the situation, without prejudice to users.
In this way, Negueruela defended the local product of the Islands, in this case the ensaimada, and has praised the fact that both residents and tourists can continue transporting this typical product on the Irish company’s planes, always respecting the security and luggage conditions in force. . At the meeting table there was no shortage of one of the typical Mallorcan ensaimadas.