Majorca orders nightlife areas to close amid coronavirus fears
The government of the Balearics has ordered the closure of all premises on three streets in the two main nightlife areas of Majorca following scenes of drunken tourists partying outside bars and vomiting in public.
It’s worried that such anti-social behaviour will jeopardise the re-start of the islands’ tourism industry, which has been badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
Bars, clubs and other commercial premises on Calle Punta Ballena in Magaluf, and on Palma’s Calle Miquel Pellisa (better known as Calle de la Cerveza or ‘Beer Street’) and Calle del Pare Bartomeu Slava (known as Calle del Jamon or ‘Ham Street’) have been told to close from today.
The government said the drastic move was necessary to curb drunken behaviour.
"Given the current situation, the fact that the Balearic Islands have been one of the communities hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic from an economic perspective, and any new outbreak would be a challenging blow to the tourism sector, the Government of the islands has reinforced its commitment for eradicating this type of antisocial tourism linked to alcohol, excess and public disorder to promote a safer and more high quality tourism product." it said.
Earlier this week, a British tourist was arrested in Palma for coughing on diners, claiming that he had coronavirus.
Even prior to the pandemic in January, the Balearics introduced a new law to try to rid the islands of booze-based tourism.
It banned happy hours, free bars and the advertising of pub crawls in the West End of Sant Antoni on Ibiza and in Majorca’s Playa de Palma, El Arenal and Magaluf.
The law also bans two-for-one drink offers, prohibits the sale of alcohol in shops between 9:30 pm and 8am and forbids advertising party boats in the designated areas. In addition, there will be no new licences granted for party boats.
In the last 14 days, the Balearics claim to have registered the lowest cumulative incidence rate of Covid-19 in all of Europe, with 4.78 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
Spain as a whole has recorded 14.8 cases per 100,000.
By Linsey McNeill, Editor (UK)
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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