EasyJet is warning holidaymakers of changes to alcohol laws that affect certain areas of the Balearic Islands, which although they came into force in 2020, are now being enforced following two years of the pandemic. The rules mean that guests on all-inclusive holidays can have three drinks at lunch and three at dinner, but if they want more they will have to pay for them.
With restrictions and travel rules being eased from the UK, many people are now starting to book holidays and are keen to return to pre-Covid holiday destinations for some sun.
However, these laws are local to the Balearic Islands and don’t affect the Canary Islands as many social media users are posting, sharing, and commenting on them incorrectly.
But there have been law changes in some resorts in the Balearics that people need to be aware of before planning all-inclusive trips to those islands, which were brought in during the summer of 2020, to limit the impact of drunken behaviour on residents.
EasyJet has said: “Due to a change in Spanish law which affects certain resorts in the Balearic islands, alcoholic drinks are now limited to three per person at lunch and dinner as part of the all-inclusive basis.”
These rules do apply in Magaluf and Palma in Majorca, and some areas of Ibiza, but not all regions, so people are encouraged to check before they book.
The Balearic government have also banned happy hours, pub crawls and two-for-one drink offers, and alcohol cannot be sold in shops between 9.30pm and 8am, and advertising party boats in certain areas are also prohibited.
Why have laws been introduced:
The Minister of Tourism for the Balearic Islands, Iago Negueruela, said they “hope to put a stop to drunk and disorderly behaviour from tourists,” and want to halt the ‘cheapening’ of the Balearic Islands to attract holidaymakers who do not appreciate its rowdy image.
Council leaders have been mounting a fightback to try to clean up the image of resorts like Magaluf, since it was rocked by scandal in 2014 when a British female holidaymaker was filmed performing sex acts on 24 men. The incident led Majorca's top politician at the time, Jose Ramon Bauza, to dub Magaluf's notorious party strip Punta Ballena as '500 metres of shame'.
In 2018 council chiefs upped the ante against badly-behaving tourists in Magaluf by putting up street signs warning them of heavy fines for drinking in the street, nakedness, and fighting. The brightly-coloured signs, which carried the strapline 'Have fun with respect' were mounted on lamp-posts and other visible spots in the party resort.
The fines for disrespecting these rules are as follows:
- Drinking in the street: 500 euros per person.
- Not wearing suitable clothing in the street (ie no t-shirt, only swimwear): 400 euros per person.
- Shouting, being noisy, fighting, or disrupting others: 400 euros per person.
