The Calvia bylaw on the display of alcoholic beverages comes into effect next week. Stacks of bottles and cans outside stores will no longer be allowed.
Retailers argue that they are not responsible for booze tourism. They put the blame on all-inclusives. Many young tourists, they say, come out from these hotels in an already bad way.
Petra María Martín, who works in a supermarket in Paguera, reckons that the town hall just improvises its regulations and seems to want to damage the retail trade. She is not alone in thinking this. And when it comes to all-inclusives, other shop workers and owners maintain that 80% of incidents related to drunken tourism are caused by young people staying in these hotels.
Toni Homar of a shop in Magalluf's Punta Ballena says that the town hall wants to benefit the hoteliers and not the non-hotel sector, such as the shops. This is always the case, he insists. He has already moved his displays inside and thinks this will be harmful. The new image of Magalluf, he believes, should be about keeping a check on all-inclusives and not about prohibiting the sale of drink.
At a supermarket in Santa Ponsa, Dyana Cruz and Antonio Ruiz say that if young tourists don't see drink displayed outside, they will still go inside. It's other tourists they are concerned about. "We'd like to know what type of study has been done to back up this ban. Now they prohibit the displays, but in a few years time they'll say we can have them again, which is what they did some years ago."
The problem of drunken tourism, the retailers add, is limited to a very few areas: Punta Ballena is one. But they aren't just worried about the ban on exterior displays. There is another regulation for having separated spaces for the sale of alcohol. This is due to come in on 31 December and will mean a cost in order to meet the requirements. The town hall says that only minor work will be needed.