The deputy head of Protocol of the Embassy of Saudi Arabia, Karim Sultan, has been one of those recognized by the Consell Insular de Ibiza in the framework of its campaign against illegal transport, a distinction that has attracted attention for being a foreign diplomatic representative.
The mention took place last Friday in the Plenary Hall of the Consell, during the institutional act of gratitude to people and entities that have actively collaborated in the Shock Plan to fight against intrusiveness in passenger transport on the island.
“The unity of all of us here sends a clear message: zero tolerance to piracy,” said the president of the Consell, Vicent Marí, who valued the good results of the campaign.
Specifically, he pointed out that the number of illegal carriers has been reduced by 95% at key points such as the airport, thanks to the joint actions of the Civil Guard, Local Police, the island’s Transport Service and other collaborators.
The involvement of the Saudi diplomat
Karim Sultan’ s name appears alongside those of Guardia Civil officers, airport security officers and representatives of the cab sector among the people who received this recognition. He has been the Deputy Chief of Protocol at the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Madrid for almost 14 years.
The reason: his direct mediation with Saudi tourists to prevent them from hiring illegal transportation services on the island.
The Consell has explained to La Voz de Ibiza that the involvement of the diplomat began after the immobilization of a vehicle with foreign license plates, which was performing a VTC service for a group of Saudi visitors. This action caused the embassy to contact the Ibizan authorities.
“From Transport explained to the deputy head of Protocol of the embassy what had been the breach and how the VTC service had to be hired on the island of Ibiza to avoid problems,” moved from the Consell.
Following this conversation, Sultan took an active role in passing on the information to tourists in his country, promoting the use of legal transport and thus helping to reduce cases of intrusion.
“He mediated with the Saudis coming to Ibiza so that they would hire legal transport services, something that up to that moment (without being aware) many of them were not doing, because they were hiring them in other countries,” they have detailed.
A plan with visible results
In 2025, the Plan de Choque contra el intrusismo has included for the first time funding from the Balearic Government, through the Sustainable Tourism Tax.
In total, 370 actions were carried out by the Civil Guard, 171 by the Transport Service of the Consell and 42 joint operations with local police.
“Until now we all had clear our determination in the fight against pirate cabs and illegal transport, but we did it individually. The Table of Intrusiveness has achieved that we all – State, collaborators and employers – do this fight in a coordinated way”, said the first vice-president of the Consell, Mariano Juan.
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