Street drinking, in particular the "botellón" party, is to be subject to new and tougher regulation. The town halls federation, Felib, has drafted a general "anti-botellón" ordinance, for which it has the backing of the Council of Majorca and the Majorca Institute of Social Affairs.
Joan Carles Verd, the mayor of Sencelles and the president of Felib, and the president of the Council, Miquel Ensenyat, will today present the contents of the ordinance to an assembly of mayors. It comprises 36 articles to do with alcohol consumption and sets out a regime for fines, the highest being 100,000 euros. With this ordinance, town halls will have all means necessary to deal especially with underage drinking.
The most severe penalty - 10,000 to 100,000 euros - will be for the sale and supply of alcohol by anyone who doesn't have the necessary authorisation. There will be fines of up to 10,000 euros for the sale or supply of alcohol to minors and for establishments which sell alcohol outside permitted hours. At the low end of the fines regime, there can be penalties of up to 600 euros for drinking alcohol on the public way that constitutes a disturbance of the peace.
Fiesta night parties are one of the main targets for this ordinance, but it will clearly also apply to tourist areas. In order to obtain authorisation, sellers of alcohol at fiesta events will need to show that they have undertaken a course on the "responsible dispensing" of alcohol. These sellers will also have to make water available at "an acceptable price" and to clearly display their municipal authorisation document.
Verd says that individual town halls will decide whether or not they adopt the ordinance. They may wish to adapt it to their specific needs, and indeed many town halls already have specific bylaws. The Felib proposal provides, in general terms, tougher sanctions than town halls currently have.