CHEAP hotels and nightclubs across the Spanish holiday hotspots face being closed down due to new restrictions.
Majorca and Ibiza have announced another major measure in the war against excess and unruly tourism on the islands.
The Balearic government says it is allocating €10million to buy "low-category establishments" and will then close them down – this would include hotels and entertainment venues.
"We have to promote a production model that can simultaneously generate prosperity, employment and opportunities and do so by protecting the capacity of a territory and natural resources that are incompatible with excessive tourist pressure," said president, Francina Armengol.
The Balearics are determined to present a new model of tourism to the hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers who come to Majorca and Ibiza each year, with Brits being one of the main markets.
A new raft of rules is already in place to combat unruly behaviour, with heavy fines being dished out by the police.
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Brits in Ibiza and Majorca will only be allowed to have six drinks per day when staying at all-inclusive resorts.
Hotspots like Magaluf also have special measures which prohibit all sorts of "unacceptable" behaviour, including balconing, drinking in the streets and party boats.
Fines of up to €60,000 (£50,000) can be given to anyone caught breaking the new rules.
Now tourists have returned in their droves to the Balearics following the worst of the Covid crisis, complaints are already rising again about overcrowding and a number of demonstrations have taken place.
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Balearic president Armengol said: "It is evident that there is overcrowding at certain times of the year."
During a policy debate, she said the number of tourist places could be reduced in volume without affecting employment or social cohesion.
The Balearic president said it was time to take effective measures rather than perpetuate "the superficial debate overcrowding."
"We have to be responsible and recognise that tourism is employment, it is development, it is resources for our welfare state," she stressed. "For the Balearics, it is the most complex challenge".
The purchase of obsolete tourist businesses, she added, was a measure with which the Government wants to "set an example of the path" to follow.
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No details have yet been revealed about how the new policy will work and which hotels or "excess tourism" entertainment venues will be chosen.
Booking flights to Spain could soon cost a lot more too, with new laws set to cause airfares to soar.
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