Mallorca: Bothersome booze tourism

Miguel Canellas is concerned about excessive party tourism in Mallorca's capital Palma, telling DW "the situation is worse than in previous years."

Canellas heads the Las Maravillas neighborhood residents' association, located in one of Palma's most touristic areas.

"We depend on tourism," says Canellas. "But we still need to be able to live in peace." He adds that in the evenings many residents no longer leave their house because "they're afraid."

Palma's party hotspot, beach resort Playa De Palma, is once again drawing huge crowds of visitors after the years-long pandemic. It's not uncommon to see large groups of German guests descend on Mallorca's capital looking to let their hair down.

But Playa de Palma is also the destination of choice for tens of thousands of Spanish high school students from the mainland eager to celebrate their graduation. Dozens of bars and nightclubs line the promenade along the five-kilometer-long beach.

"The problem is that people are partying in the street," says Juan Miguel Ferrer, a local restaurateur, who set up the Palma Beach initiative in 2015 hoping to transform this somewhat garish nightlife spot into a more classy destination.

"Having fun, partying, that's no problem at all," says Ferrer. "But please not on the streets."

Local businesses sound the alarm

The Playa de Palma Hotel Association, which currently represents 114 hotels, agrees that party tourism is not an issue per se, provided it isn't excessive. The group promotes Playa de Palma as a family destination where one can do a variety of activites aside from partying.

But the reality is quite different, at least at this time of year. By midday, the beach has turned into an alcohol-fueled extravaganza. Portable speakers blast out pop music and empty beer bottles litter the sand. Drunk tourists stagger along the beach. The air is filled with the stench of urine, beer, sunscreen and frying fat.

Hoteliers, restaurateurs and nightclub operators in the area have issued a public statement decrying this development. Their umbrella organizations have called the situation "alarming" and "unbearable," highlighting that unregulated public alcohol consumption and a lack of effective regulations to punish rowdy behavior harm the area.

The city council and Balearic government have been trying to get a handle on the problem for years. A law which came into force in 2020 and aimed to remedy the situation states that "this [party tourism] is diametrically opposed to the goal of improving the competitiveness of the islands through sustainable, responsible and high-quality tourism."

The legislation, until now, marks the most determined effort to rein in the booze-fueled tourism, though so far unsuccessfully.

Will a greater police presence help?

Hoteliers, restaurateurs and nightclub operators have therefore called on authorities to "take vigorous and effective measures to address this untenable situation."

They want to see clear regulations and sanctions to rigorously prevent the public consumption of alcohol. In addition, they wish to see an increased police presence to ensure compliance with these regulations.

"The problem is that the ban is not enforced at all," says Ferrer.

Noise pollution, mass public booze-ups, discarded glass bottles strewn over the beach — all this has been prohibited for many years, but nobody has intervened to enforce the ban. While vacationers technically face steep fines for breaking the rules, police patrols are nowhere to be seen in Playa de Palma.

Miguel Canellas of the local residents' association believes this lack of enforcement is the real problem.

"There are not enough police officers here," says Canellas.

And those that do venture into the area come by motorcycle or squad car.

"But that doesn't help," says Canellas, who thinks officers should walk or cycle through the area so they can address tourists directly and where necessary impose on-the-spot fines. "That would have an immediate effect."

But that is easier said than done. Sanctioning violations is complicated when it comes to foreign tourists. Palma has not yet found an efficient way to collect fines in such cases. According to a police spokesman, Spanish law does not allow on-the-spot payments of fines. This means Mallorca police officers can do little more than raise their finger to reprimand noisy, drunk tourists.

This article was translated from German.