Cops Needed To Stop Noisy Brits In Majorca
More cops are being demanded to crack down on noisy Brits ruining the sleep
of locals living in Majorca.
The call is being made in Calvia in eastern Majorca, the location of two key
popular low-cost resorts, Magaluf and Santa Ponca.
Both have generated controversy largely because of the drink-fuelled bad
behaviour of tourists, many from the UK.
There have been many recorded incidents of drunken violence in the resorts,
but for local residents, noise is one of the main problems they face on a
daily basis.
Joan Mendez, President of the Residents’ Association in Santa Ponca said
that he had received lots of complaints from people unable to sleep.
He said that the police had shown some signs of reacting by processing over
50 claims against bars in both Magaluf and Santa Ponca, but he acknowledged
that there was a problem with a lack of resources.
He said: “You cannot control thousands of tourists wandering from bar to bar
with just a few patrols.”
A police spokesperson acknowledged that “it is difficult to reconcile the
leisure activities in Calvia with the rights of the local residents to
sleep.”
Bar owners in turn have complained that they are being subjected to huge
fines of up to 12,000 EUR (10,740 GBP) for excessive noise, or 10,000 EUR
(8,950 GBP) for allowing people to consume drinks on pavement terraces after
3 am.
The situation appears to be worsening in Santa Ponca with the Residents
Association claiming that Ramon de Moncada street was rapidly turning into a
version of Magaluf’s notorious tourist strip, Punta Ballena.
The pressure on police resources was also heightened by the increase in
street sellers. Shop owners have long denounced the presence of large
numbers of itinerant street stalls to be “unfair competition.” As police
begin to impose more fines for unlicensed street selling, so they are less
able to focus on controlling the rowdy night-life.
Joan Mendez appealed to the central government in Madrid to take action,
urging President Sanchez to increase the numbers of Civil Guards in the
resorts, and to open a new National Police Commissary in Calvia.