Matt Gatenby, partner at Travlaw, said he believed the combined efforts of the police, the UK and international governments and the trade could lead to a decrease in cases over the coming months.

Gatenby was speaking to TTG after the arrest by Majorcan police of one Briton suspected of encouraging holidaymakers to lodge bogus claims and the questioning of another, as reported in the Mail on Sunday.

Gatenby claimed the arrest “sends the right message at a good time”, ahead of the peak summer season.

The unnamed Britons are said to have been identified in the first swoop of its kind in Spain, which Gatenby said was evidence that “someone in authority is at the very least taking [the issue] seriously and in this case believes that the law is being broken”.

“You have to think that the police wouldn’t have taken the action without probable cause,” he said. “People need to know that there will be consequences.”

Gatenby added that he would expect to see more work of this kind by police in resorts “Europe-wide”.

“It goes to show the industry is getting the kind of backing it needs in order to help stamp [the rise in fake claims] out,” he said.