Mallorca cracks down on drunken tourists, closes popular party strips

Partygoers were not wearing face masks, a mandatory requirement by the government. Picture: Mruizdeassin/Pixabay.

Partygoers were not wearing face masks, a mandatory requirement by the government. Picture: Mruizdeassin/Pixabay.

Published Jul 16, 2020

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The regional government of Spain's Balearic Islands announced on Wednesday that it was closing two streets notorious for drunken behaviour by foreign tourists. 

The decision was confirmed by Iago Negueruela, counsellor of labour, commerce and industry of the government of the Balearic Islands after videos showing groups of young drunken holidaymakers singing and dancing in the party strip known as Punta Ballena in the resort of Magaluf. 

Some of these youths were even dancing on top of cars parked outside the many bars in the street and none of them was wearing face masks, which is now mandatory at all times in the Balearic Islands, or observing social distancing rules despite the ongoing risk of coronavirus infection. 

Citing these images, the regional authority has decided to close Punta Ballena and another street called Calle del Jamon in the nearby resort of S'Arenal. "All commercial establishments, bars and restaurants in these streets will have to close," Negueruela said. 

"We cannot tolerate the sort of images we have been seeing over the last few days. Our tourism-related and economic activities depend on our image. We urge the general population and the tourists to obey the rules on social distancing and the other measures put in place by the Balearic Islands government. 

"We do not want tourists who behave anti-socially, because a few of them can ruin the image of our islands and we have an extraordinary public health situation, which means we cannot tolerate it," he argued, adding that the authority would "not hesitate" to close other areas if need be. 

Xinhua

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