Spanish Hot Spots Mallorca and Ibiza Pass Law Banning Pub Crawls, Party Boats and Happy Hours
Planning ahead for a wild spring break trip? You may want to reconsider these islands traditionally known to be major party destinations.
Popular tourist spots in Spanish’s Balearic Islands, which include Ibiza and Mallorca, are cracking down on what has been dubbed “booze tourism” with the passing of a new law Friday.
According to a Government of the Balearic Islands press release, a law was passed putting several restrictions on parties and alcohol in the following tourist spots: Playa de Palma and Magaluf in Mallorca and San Antonio’s West End on Ibiza.
In these areas, tour operators and bars will no longer be allowed to offer or promote pub crawls, happy hours, party boats or give away free drinks.
Alcohol will also only be available for purchase between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 9:30 p.m.
Those in violation of the new law will face fines up to 600,000 euros (roughly $669,000), Fox News reported.
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The act of “balconing” — when a person jumps off a balcony into a pool or to another balcony — has also been banned throughout all of the Balearic Islands as it has caused a number of deaths in the past.
Any guests found balconing will be immediately expelled and subjected to fines of 60,000 euros ($66,900) to 600,000 euros.
The release noted that this is the first law of its kind to be adopted in Europe and it will remain in effect for at least the next five years.
In an effort to move away from such wild activity, which the government believes “most of which are directly related to alcohol abuse, in certain tourist areas of Mallorca and Ibiza,” this law will “put an end to circumstances that cause discomfort and affect the image of the destination.”
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Government officials hope that the restrictions will “force a real change in the tourist model of these destinations, encourage civility, adopt measures to protect the destination and avoid problems caused by excessive alcohol consumption in certain places in the Balearic Islands.”
According to the travel blog The Points Guy, this isn’t the first time countries have cracked down on these types of behaviors.
In early 2019, Palma de Mallorca banned happy hours and last summer Rome, passed a law against pub crawls.
