Spain, the Balearic islands against tourism and alcohol. No to happy hours and open bar

Sun, sea, unbridled sex and rivers of alcohol. On the websites of the tour operators intended for the very young - the English and the germans especially - in search of strong emotions, the recall is still the one, irresistible, that has marked the last tourist season. The package all inclusive holidays at bargain prices for next summer were already ready. But the Balearic islands, which each year receive 13 million foreign visitors, have decided to say enough is enough once and for all. It is enough for the tourism and alcohol that ruined the image of the archipelago and, at the end of each summer, leaves a trail of tragic deaths, violence, complaints for different offences.

The regional government of the left, led by the socialist Francina Armengol , has passed a law very hard to curb the excesses. Now then - the decree enters into force next week - will be prohibited in the pub crawl excursions etiliche: a round bar, which is realized with a single ticket valid all night), the sale of alcohol in shops from 21.30 at 8 in the morning, the happy hour offers 2 for 1 or 3 for 1, the bar libre (free drink without limits) and the autodispensación (direct access and no control of the customers to the distributors of the drinks). In essence, the bartenders will have to respect the rule of charging a unit price for each copa, as the Spanish call it a drink.
All of these rules apply, for the moment, in three localities of the Balearic islands, those who in recent years have made the scandal in the world: on the island of Majorca, Magaluf and El Arenal, Ibiza, the West End of Sant Antoni. Magaluf, the enclave is totally british about twenty kilometres from Palma, is the most striking, the one that regularly in July and August ends up on the front pages of newspapers across Europe. Sex on the street and on the beach, fights at night, coma, ethyl, consumption of each type of drug. Not to say the balconing, the practice of jumping from a terrace on the other side of the hotel or dive straight from the balcony into the swimming pool. A gamble that often costs the lives of the guys who try, regularly in a state of intoxication. Now it will be considered a "contravention grave" (in this case, the rule applies to the whole region) is punishable with a fine from 6000 to 60 thousand euro, both on the part of those who practice it, both of those authorised. Even heavier - up to 600 thousand euros - and the penalties for the owners of the bar who violate the severe and repeated the provisions of the decree. Add to this the threat of closure of the premises from one to three years.
The law also puts a brake on the party boats, the party boats with a high rate of alcohol: are suspended (in the archipelago) the granting of new licenses for the next 24 months. Then you will come to the regulation of the financial sector. To hinder the spread of prostitution, it prohibits the offering of rooms for rent by the hour (in this case, the fine can reach 60 thousand euros) and the owners of the premises it is forbidden to use women as a lure in advertising for the sale of alcohol. The minister of Tourism, Iago Negueruela, ensures that the Balearic islands are "the first region in Europe to regulate the excesses," and that in this way, you will finally be able to point to a "sustainable tourism quality". The government of Palma, which, together with the socialists, even we can and environmentalists Més, has approved the measures with the full consent of the tourist entrepreneurs. "Now explain to London and Berlin", says Negueruela, "and we'll work with consulates and embassies. They also understand the issue as we are."

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