"Botellón" street parties, phenomena with a long history that obviously predate the pandemic, have become one of the principal public health concerns in the current Covid environment. In addition, there are general issues of law and order, which is why they are specifically prohibited under municipal bylaws.
But prohibition is proving to be especially ineffective at present, the size of the gatherings partly attributable to a lack of nightlife. While the principal flashpoints have been in Palma, over this weekend police have had to contend with the botellón in villages such as Esporles and Valldemossa as well as the tourist resorts of Cala Ratjada and Magalluf.
In Cala Ratjada, residents complain that there are just two police patrols to tackle groups of young German tourists who take to the streets with speakers blasting at full volume. In Magalluf on Friday night, Calvia police and the Guardia Civil had to disperse around a thousand people, many of them on the beach. Not all of these people, it has to be said, are young tourists; not by any means.
In Magalluf, meanwhile, the revival of tourism, still well below levels of pre-pandemic times, has meant the inevitable reappearance of elements that have blighted the resort for so long, e.g. the so-called prostitutes, whose objective is mugging. Police and Guardia are out in number, but it is a familiar pattern.