Palma's new mayor, Antoni Noguera, reportedly said that the city no longer wanted so-called "rubbish tourism", in other words badly behaved tourists on a booze holiday. The comments have sparked an outcry in Germany and it is rumoured that the German government could complain.
I understand where the mayor is coming from: he would like to see an end to the boozy behaviour by a small minority in Playa de Palma. I think everyone would like it. But the mayor can do something about it. There are all sorts of laws which are related to bad behaviour while on holiday; all the mayor needs to do is to instruct the police and make sure that the laws are enforced. That would be the end of the story. There is a simple solution. So why doesn’t the council just act?
I am getting rather bored with local politicians moaning about badly behaved tourists and doing nothing or little to try and resolve the problem. I have seen for myself teenagers leaving their all-inclusive hotels in Playa de Palma armed with drinks from their free bar. This is illegal and it should be stopped. Unfortunately, the story goes on. Local politicians want to blame everyone apart from themselves. If Majorca doesn’t want booze tourism then it shouldn’t encourage it. The time has come for some action. If the police enforce the law then this would be the end of many of the problems.