Spanish police arrest hacker who booked luxury hotels for one cent

Spanish police said on Wednesday (February 18, 2026) they had arrested a 20-year-old man who allegedly hacked a hotel booking website to reserve luxury rooms for as little as one cent, in the first known cybercrime of its kind.

The suspect is believed to have manipulated the site’s payment system, altering the validation process of an electronic payment platform so that bookings appeared fully paid.

But only a minimal amount — one cent — was actually charged for rooms costing up to 1,000 euros ($1,200) a night.

“This cyberattack was specifically designed to alter the payment validation system, and this is the first time we have detected a crime using this method,” Spain’s National Police said.

Police said the man also consumed minibar items during his stays and occasionally left bills unpaid. At the time of his arrest, he was staying at a luxury Madrid hotel with a four-night reservation totalling 4,000 euros.

Authorities said the hotel lost more than 20,000 euros. The investigation began after an online booking website reported suspicious activity earlier this month.

Transactions initially appeared to be completed correctly, but the irregularity was only discovered days later, when the payment platform transferred the actual amount paid to the affected company.