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A cruise ship carrying about 1,500 passengers has been prevented from continuing its journey from Barcelona due to fraudulent visas among some on board.
The company said there were 69 Bolivians on board the Armonia ship, operated by MSC Cruises, whose Schengen visas were forged, confirming reports published by Spanish media.
The group of Bolivians, which included families with children, set off for Brazil on a flight to Barcelona, where their trip was scheduled to end. But after visa checks, they were not allowed to leave the ship to go ashore like other passengers.
Schengen visas allow their holders to travel between nearly 30 European countries.
Meanwhile, the Armonia was planning to continue its journey on Tuesday across the Mediterranean to take on other passengers, but the ship was instead grounded in Barcelona pending an investigation.
Some relatives of the Bolivians on board who live in Spain told Spanish media that the people were victims of a scam.
They said an agency in South America offered passage and visas online and charged up to $10,000 per person. La Vanguardia newspaper quoted their relatives as saying that this agency also canceled the return flight tickets it had promised after the cruise ship left Brazil for Europe.
However, the police did not rule out the possibility that the Bolivians actually wanted to enter Spain illegally using deliberately forged documents.
It is not clear when the ship will be able to continue its journey and what will happen to the Bolivian passengers.
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