A tourist asleep on the beach wall and another tourist defecates on his head. Captured on video, the grossness of this act has made some wonder whether it will represent Playa de Palma's 'mamading' moment, when authorities finally say that enough is enough, as they did when the infamous mamading video in Magaluf provoked the condemnation that it did.
To suggest that excesses in Magaluf are a thing of the past is an exaggeration. A recent video by a Mallorcan YouTuber which highlighted 'lawlessness' on Punta Ballena was evidence that tourist excess - drunkenness among young tourists - most certainly continues. But it is fair to say that Magaluf has not been attracting the level of negative publicity it once did. By comparison, Playa de Palma has been the focus of regular outrage.
It's hardly anything new. The association with heavy drinking tourists - young Germans in particular - was portrayed in a 1997 German comedy film, Ballermann 6. German for Balneario 6, that film emphasised that this association is concentrated in a specific area in the vicinity of the Balneario. Playa de Palma, a marketing concept dreamt up by hoteliers in the 1960s, is a series of places. The problems are not experienced in the whole of Playa de Palma by any means - the Ballermann and across the municipal border into the Arenal of Llucmajor are the centre.
But what might be said to be relatively new is the sheer scale of the excess. Regardless of bylaws and Balearic legislation, it is not abating. Certain interventions have resulted in some success, such as the banning of the sale of drinking buckets and 'packs' to be shared by groups on the beach. These can still be found, though. The sale of alcohol is limited to 8am to 9.30pm. But has this made any difference? Have regulations preventing the outdoor display of alcohol had any effect? Tourist supermarkets, it is said, have been converted into virtual off-licences.
As well as the supermarkets, there are the street sellers of cocktails - mojitos, caipirinha. The police constantly act by reporting them, but this isn't a great deterrence. Officers also take action against the drinking of alcohol in public spaces, but they seem to be fighting a losing battle. Come the evening and into the next morning, this part of Playa de Palma becomes a public drinking venue, and it's as if there is an absence of control.
Residents and businesses, the hoteliers especially, have made their feelings known on repeated occasions. At some point, the drinking, the mess, the fights, the noise, the outrages have to end. But when?