Mallorca to fine tourists and bars €3,000 for breaking rules in new alcohol crackdown

Happy hours and two-for-one drinks deals will be banned in certain areas

Drinks promotions will be banned in Playa de Palma (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Tourists and bars in Mallorca could be fined up to €3,000 as part of a new crackdown on alcohol consumption.

New rules will ban bars from “incitement to drink”, meaning happy hour deals, two-for-one promotions and displaying alcohol on countertops are all off the table.

Holidaymakers, meanwhile, can be fined for antisocial behaviour or “causing a public nuisance”.

The rules only apply to certain areas in the island’s capital, Palma: Cala Major, Center, Paseo Maritimo and the entire Playa de Palma.

Drinking outside is also prohibited in certain streets, with bars liable if people are found flouting the rules. Al fresco boozing is banned on Carrer del Pare Bartomeu Salvà, Carrer del Llaüt and Carrer de les Canyes.

The ban comes into effect from 1 April 2019.

The move comes as the Balearic Islands mull whether to limit alcohol served as part of all-inclusive package holidays.

Bel Busquet, vice-president and Balearic Island minister for innovation, research and tourism, said: “This proposed law will help crack down on antisocial drinking and the associated problems this brings.

“While we want visitors to enjoy their holidays, we want to endorse responsible drinking.”

UK travel trade association Abta called the plans “misguided”.

“It targets the wrong market,” Abta’s director of destinations and sustainability, Nikki White, told Travel Weekly. “Typically, all-inclusive customers in the Balearics are not 22-year-olds, but families who appreciate the convenience and ability to control budgets. Restricting their choices may drive families elsewhere.”

Tui, the UK’s biggest tour operator, also took issue with the idea.

A spokesperson said: “We’re open to engaging with the authorities to tackle any issues surrounding alcohol consumption and inappropriate behaviour.

“We don’t, however, accept that all-inclusive resorts are part of the problem and the data we have seen doesn’t support that suggestion.”

The law wouldn’t come into effect until at least 2022.