The National Police has arrested a hotel businessman in Alicante accused of exploiting a young Algerian in an irregular situation in conditions of slavery. The victim could only eat leftovers from customers and she was forced to work 16 hours a day at the store and taking care of a family member.
The agents of the Provincial Immigration and Border Brigade of Valencia have arrested the businessman, accused of a crime of trafficking in human beings for the purposes of labor exploitation, after becoming aware of the facts last August.
The police investigations concluded that the victim worked up to 16 hours a day, 50 hours a week in the hotel establishment and the rest caring for an elderly person, a relative of the businessman, whom he helped with cleaning the home and maintaining a garden that was in the house.
Apparently, he had met the victim in a training course he taught when the young man was a minor and took advantage of the young man’s situation of “vulnerability” and lack of knowledge of the language to offer him a job. The detainee paid the young man 300 euros a month, 400 in high season, and later deducted 100 euros from his salary for offering him accommodation.
The victim’s working conditions were “extremely harsh.” He was only allowed to eat leftover food from the establishment’s clients, and during his work day he was allegedly subjected to insults, humiliation, and threats of being returned to his country of origin for being in an irregular situation.
The inspection of the establishment was carried out with the collaboration of the Labor and Social Security Inspection of Alicante and the Unit Against Immigration Networks and Documentary Falsities of Valencia (UCRIF). The detainee, with a previous police record, has been brought to justice.
