Mallorca’s upmarket capital of Palma has become the latest holiday destination to join the crackdown on anti-social behaviour with a raft of new rules for tourists.
The city’s council yesterday approved a “Regulation Ordinance for the civic use of public spaces to improve coexistence in leisure areas”.
Councillor for security, Angelica Pastor said: “This ordinance will not solve all the problems but gives tools to the police to work on. We hope that it helps to improve coexistence in the main leisure areas.”
Complaints from locals about tourists largely from Britain, Germany and France have included mass drunkenness, public nudity, and even couples copulating in the streets apparently oblivious to children in the vicinity. The behavior has been so obnoxious that local militia style gangs have taken matters into their own hands on occasion.
Palma’s Mayor, Antoni Noguera said: “We will tackle excess tourism and these new regulations will help to improve our image.”
The regulations allow the creation of Zones of Special Tourist Interest (ZEIC) to act more forcefully in various entertainment areas.
The new rules clampdown on so-called bottle parties in the street and on “hate crimes” where local residents might take matters into their own hands against rowdy tourists.
But the main onslaught is against alcohol which the city regards as the main evil behind anti-social problems and rowdiness.
The Mayor said: “This ordinance has the object of intervention against the tourism of excesses that makes alcohol its main activity and that causes a bad image of Palma.”
He has appealed to all tourists to “act responsibly” and respect Palma as a tourist destination, “We must all be part of the solution,” he added.
The new zones will allow the police to act with greater force against disturbances.
The Mayor said: “We have some blackspots in Palma that we can put in quarantine. We have allocated many resources to Playa de Palma and this ordinance is a very powerful tool to improve the destiny.”
The new rules prohibit:
• Balconing
• The sale of alcoholic drinks between midnight and 8am if it is for consumption outside the premises and not in terraces or in commercial establishments
• Bottle parties in the streets
• Using vehicles as a support for the sale of food products and beverages to the public thoroughfare – these vehicles may be confiscated
• Walking around topless unless in the immediate beach environment or stripping off or “flashing”
• The sale or promotion of laughing gas or any publicity which leads to its use
• Carry out street sales individually or in groups in any of the places public or private spaces of public gatherings
• Consumption of alcoholic beverages by minors in the public space
• The encouragement or organisation of pub crawling or party boats
• Perform any sexual act which might be visible to children
• Carry out a sexual act on the public thoroughfare, in the presence of people who can see it visually
• Carry out unauthorised peddling of any type of alcoholic beverages
Breaches will be punishable by fines of between 100 and 3,000 euros depending on the severity.
However, police will have the right to decide the level of an immediate on-the-spot fine if they feel it is appropriate.