Calvià City Council in Majorca Hit by Ransomware Attack

In a recent announcement, the city council of Calvià, Majorca, notified the citizens about a ransomware attack that impacted the municipal services since last week.

Situated in the south-west of Majorca, Calvià is one of the major tourist hotspots, with over a million visitors annually.

The attack is said to have occurred in the early hours of Saturday, January 13. According to local media reports, a ransom of €10 million ($11 million) has been demanded, which Juan Antonio Amengual, the local mayor, has refused to pay.

The attack is believed to have hit Calvià council’s systems, forcing it to create a crisis committee to analyze the impact on affected services. Moreover, an IT team in partnership with third-party experts is conducting forensic analysis to mitigate and hasten the recovery process.

‘’Calvià City Council continues to work intensely to try to return to normality as soon as possible after the cyber-attack suffered last weekend,’’ the statement read. (Google Translate)

Keeping in mind the impacted services, the council has asked citizens to reach out to the General State Administration Registry for submitting necessary documents.

It has also temporarily suspended all administrative deadlines, including submission of claims and requests until January 31, 2024. In the issued statement, it also advised citizens regarding other local services.

“In response to some questions raised by residents in the municipality, the council recalls that residence certificates can be obtained at the City Hall itself in the morning and also at the Municipal Tax Office,” the statement explained. “In any case, both the payment of taxes and subscriptions (for example, to municipal sports facilities) cannot be carried out during this week.”

The notification concluded by thanking the thousands of city council members and regrets for the inconvenience. It also reminded the citizens that support services could still be availed via both in-person and telephone communication.

Furthermore, in accordance with the laws and regulations, the council also filed an official complaint about the incident with the cybercrime division of the police department, along with submission of preliminary forensic analysis.