According to entrepreneurs, drinking tourism around the Ballermann in Mallorca is currently even worse than in the years before the corona pandemic.
Some vacationers arrive at the hotels around 10 a.m. and by 2 p.m. they can no longer leave, the newspaper “Última Hora” quoted Juan Miguel Ferrer, managing director of the “Palma Beach” initiative for more quality on Playa de Palma.
The initiative was founded in 2016 by private entrepreneurs to enhance the area and promote quality tourism in Playa de Palma. The merger now includes 52 companies. Since it was founded, a number of bars and restaurants have been extensively renovated. They are now aimed at a more upscale, wealthy audience.
Vacationers typically booked ten days in advance and stayed an average of three or four nights. They only spend 30 to 40 euros a day, most of it on alcohol, Ferrer complained.
Tourists were still partying as late as 4am, sometimes using megaphones that would inexplicably continue to be freely sold. In some cases, holidaymakers who were completely drunk would simply be left lying on the street by their friends.
According to Ferrer, the situation on the streets is already worse than in the years before the pandemic. “We already consider the season lost in terms of excess control,” the chief executive said at a press conference.
A few weeks ago he was still optimistic in an interview with the German Press Agency. Corona acted as a catalyst for their own efforts and attracted a new type of vacationer. They want things like good food with local products and environmentally friendly local transport.
“Late 2021 and spring 2022 were spectacular,” said Pedro Marín, manager of Palma Beach. According to the manager, there were guests who were willing to spend money and who appreciated the great offer that had been built up over the past few years.
Unfortunately, this positive development came to an end on May 10th. “As soon as the big party temples were open again, this new type of vacationer was pushed out by the old party audience,” regretted Ferrer. “Since then we have suffered from the arrival of large groups of tourists just looking to get drunk in the streets, on the promenade or on the beach,” the Mallorca newspaper quoted Ferrer as saying.
In 2020, an evening ban on alcohol sales was introduced, which also regulated alcohol serving at all-inclusive hotels – but did not work everywhere: “There are controls in the hotels, but the problem is the lack of controls on the street,” said Ferrer.
According to Mallorca Magazin, he has two demands: “Anyone who violates the rules of conduct should be asked to pay directly on site. We would also like the police force to be increased in April and not only during the current season, so that preventive action can be taken.”
