Alex Trelinski
TOUGHER penalties have been promised against drunken tourists and criminal behaviour in the Playa de Palma area of Mallorca.
Palma mayor, Jaime Martinez, made the pledge on Tuesday during a speech at an international tourist conference in Berlin.
“Playa de Palma says enough is enough,” said the former Tourism Minister in the Balearics government.
Martinez declared war on ‘irresponsible’ tourism that has been increasing over recent seasons.
A new civic ordinance is being worked on where offenders could be fined up to €3,000 but it may not be approved in time for this summer.
Nevertheless, the presence of police will soon be strengthened in parts of the tourist spot where the most trouble occurs.
Palma council is looking to take on extra recruits to the Policia Local and will also ask for Policia Nacional reinforcements.
Jaime Martinez said: “There will be no going back on new zero tolerance policies against vandalism, fighting, illegal public drinking and street vending.”
“The same thing that we demand of our residents will apply to tourists,” he added.
Complaints about rowdiness and law breaking in Playa de Palma have been a constant source of complaints from both residents and the hoteliers’ association.
They’ve called for increased police patrols as well as stiffer penalties on offenders to avoid what they regard as a ‘degradation’ of the area at certain times of the year.
