image source, Getty Images
- author, Ido Vock
- role, bbc news
Spain's Balearic Islands is widening its rules on street drinking and further restricting party boat operations in a bid to crack down on drinking holidays in tourist destinations.
The government says the tightening of the law passed in 2020 applies to popular hotspots such as Playa de Palma and Magaluf on Mallorca and Sant Antoni on Ibiza.
If you drink alcohol outside of a permitted area, you will be fined between €500 and €1,500 (£430 and £1,290).
Under the new law, which takes effect on Saturday, the number of sanctions against foreign nationals will be tallied and submitted to their respective embassies.
The bill would introduce stricter rules for party boats, banning them from coming within 1 nautical mile (1.852 km) of designated waters. Picking up and dropping off passengers remains prohibited.
Party Boats had previously been prohibited from advertising in these three regions.
Luis Pommard, spokesperson for the Balearic Islands Tourism Council, told the BBC that the 2020 law was working to curb anti-social behavior. He added that he hopes the law will not be needed “within three or four years, if we teach people how to behave.”
Up to €16m (£13.7m) will be spent on improving areas that receive the most tourists.
The Balearic Islands said the area to which the law applies was changed at the request of local authorities.
Pommard said the committee on “promoting civility in tourist destinations” would be expanded to include representatives of the countries whose tourists are most concerned with the issue, namely Britain and Germany.
The government reiterated that the 2020 law prohibits all alcohol sales between 21:30 and 08:00 local time (20:30-07:00 GMT).
When introducing the law in 2020, the local government said it was the first in Europe to restrict the advertising and sale of alcohol in certain tourist destinations.
The report said the new measures would “combat overreach” and “force real change in the tourism models of these destinations”.
But some local residents complained that the law would hurt businesses.
