A couple were charged £78 by Ryanair just to take two small cakes onboard.
The Balearic island government has called for an urgent meeting with the budget airline after its pastry rules came to light.
Ryanair tried to charge passengers to bring cakes onboard, claiming it exceeded their cabin baggage limit and asking for a fee of €45 (£39) for each of the delicious baked goods.
Two passengers at Palma de Mallorca airport had tried to each carry an ensaïmada, a traditional Mallorcan pastry, along with their hand baggage.
Iago Negueruela, the Balearics’ tourism minister, has called Irish airline Ryanair to the meeting “in order to defend local produce and avoid any kind of discrimination”.
Have you had issues taken food onto Ryanair flights? Email webtravel@reachplc.com
The ensaïmada de Mallorca is made with strong flour, water, sugr, eggs, mother dough and a kind of reduced pork lard named saïm. The name of the pastry comes from the Spanish word saín, which means lard.
The handmade character of the product makes it difficult to give an exact formula, so scales have been established defining the proportion of each ingredient, giving rise to an excellent quality traditional product.
Pep Magraner, the president of the Balearic Islands pastry-makers association, has said the issue is Ryanair specific but wants the rule changed, so sales of the regional treat are not impacted.
“All the other airlines allow passengers to take two ensaïmadas on board," he said.
"It’s only a problem with Ryanair, but we’re talking about a lot of flights, especially to the Spanish mainland, which is the destination of most of the ensaïmadas.”
Mallorcan politician Jaume Alzamora has voiced his fury, saying airport authority Aena does “business” with the concession of commercial establishments inside the airport, “often with companies from outside Mallorca”.
“Més has sent a letter to Aena and Ryanair to allow Mallorcan products bought outside the airport to be carried without restrictions or extra costs for tourists, because the aim is to defend Mallorcan products made in Mallorcan bakeries and pastry shops."
When it comes to taking food onto a plane, rules designed to stop disease outbreaks are in place for travel to many countries.
Sandwiches and salads are usually fine when travelling to the EU for example,- but make sure you eat it or dispose of it before landing as there are rules on the types of food you can take into other countries.
Since Brexit, people looking to head into the EU need to follow specific rules and regulations about what they can take.
The guidelines are set out in the European Travel Retail Confederation (ETRC) and explain that meat and dairy products cannot be taken from the UK into the EU - rules that date back to the 2001 Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak.
Lovers of cheeses like Wensleydale or British bacon are required to leave them behind post-Brexit. Even chocolate, fudge and sweets, though, containing animal-derived products will not be permitted either.
Fans of Bovril with beef stock will be disappointed if they hoped to take it on their holidays but Marmite, which is vegan, is allowed. There are specific rules allowing powdered infant milk, other baby food and that needed for medical reasons which doesn’t require refrigeration.
When travelling with kids, for example, up to 2kg of powdered infant milk is permitted, and the same goes for pet foods.
Ryanair has been contacted for comment.
