The disappearance of luxury Balinese beds bought for a Gran Canaria resort remains unsolved two years on.
The beds were bought in 2023 by San Bartolomé de Tirajana council for use on the iconic Meloneras beach in Maspalomas as part of a drive to modernise its amenities and generate revenue.
A total of twenty beds were purchased after the appropriate tender procedure, which also saw hundreds of sunbeds and umbrellas acquired for the 600,000-euro spruce-up of the beach.
Embarrassingly for the council, half of the Balinese beds have gone missing and the disappearance has sparked bitter accusations over who is responsible. It has now emerged that, although the sunbeds and umbrellas were installed on the beach shortly after purchase (and just ahead of local elections in May 2023) the beds, estimated to be worth around 4000 euros each, were stored at the local football stadium in Maspalomas situated next to council offices.
According to the Canarias 7 newspaper, the council is under increasing pressure to launch a formal investigation into the missing beds and determine who was responsible for ordering them to be stored at a facility that lacked proper security measures and CCTV.
The investigation could take some time, judging by the initial response within the council. The Department of Beaches requested its Security counterpart to draft a detailed report only to be told that a police report is required and this cannot be done without a formal denunciation that the beds have been stolen without the loss being detected at the time, which could prove to be an embarrassing admission by the council.
