Police move in to shut down bars as Magaluf’s party strip closed after yobs jumped on cars
The party’s over: Police move in to shut down bars as notorious Magaluf party strip is closed ‘immediately’ after boozed-up British yobs were filmed jumping on cars
- Bars owners are being given until midnight to shut, with closures expected until at least September 15
- Ibiza’s popular attractions have been snapped eerily deserted as the party island’s summer season starts
- Meanwhile, soaring demand for Benidorm’s beaches has led the town’s mayor to institute a booking system
- It comes as the Catalonia region locks down the city of Lleida after a worrying surge in coronavirus infections
By Gerard Couzens and Rita Sobot and Ryan Fahey For Mailonline
Published: 07:42 EDT, 15 July 2020 | Updated: 14:12 EDT, 15 July 2020
This is the historic moment police moved in to shut down businesses along Magaluf’s notorious party strip after boozed-up British yobs were filmed jumping on cars.
Bar owners are expecting to be given until midnight to close their doors until at least September 15 after a shock decision by regional governors ordered their closure.
Two police forces responsible for Punta Ballena were tasked with enforcing the closure orders, assisted by regional government inspectors.
The official state bulletin ordering the closure of the party strip, and two others near Palma which are less popular with Brit revellers, was published earlier.
Punta Ballena is one of three Majorca streets forced to close, and one food business owner was told to shut even though her fridges were full as she faces the prospect of having to throw the produce away.
A reveler walks away from police as authorities begin to enforce bar and club closures in Magaluf, with doors expected to remain shut until September 15
The police were seen stationed along the strip as they began to enforce the closures following an order from the town hall
The closures affects many tourist businesses as well as pubs and bars. Above: police are seen closing speaking with a woman as they enforce the closure
People are a cocktail bar in Magaluf begin to remove tables and chairs are being forced to closed
A local, who asked not to be named, said: ‘I woke up expecting to do a decent trade with the growing numbers of tourists that have been arriving and now I’m being told I have to close down again.
‘It’s heartbreaking and infuriating.’
Meanwhile, images from Ibiza show shops with their shutters down, nightclubs with no revellers and restaurants with no diners on the party island, which is usually packed-full of tourists for its summer season.
British revellers, who were not wearing face masks, made their return to the Punta Ballena party strip in Magaluf, Spain, shortly after 2am on Friday to begin their booze-fuelled holiday
One man danced on the roof of a car while others flooded onto a street on the party strip
The scenes, which occurred on Friday as police reached the area to make sure bars closed on time, come as concerned residents predicted the problem would only get worse. Pictured: A packed club in Magaluf
Supermarkets along the longest beach, Playa d’en Bossa, which is home to some of the island’s most popular clubs, are closed, as were the Amnesia and Privelige nightclubs last night.
In stark contrast, in the mainland tourism hotspot of Benidorm, overcrowding at the 1.3-mile Levante beach has prompted city officials to order sunbathers to pre-book their places with effect from Friday.
In Magaluf, Mr Negueruela said the closures would take place ‘immediately’, meaning businesses in Punta Ballena should be shut down from today.
Calvia Council, the local authority covering the Magaluf area which includes Punta Ballena, has yet to make an official comment.
But a local council source described the decision as ‘historic.’
It is not yet clear how long the closure will last but it is not expected to be lifted until after the summer season. British and Irish tourists are expected to be informed by their hotels during the course of the day about the shock move.
The regional government is also expected to inform tour operators so they can advise holidaymakers who have yet to arrive.
View of an empty street and closed restaurants yesterday in Ibiza, Spain. Summer season has kicked off in Ibiza, albeit with far fewer tourists due to the coronavirus outbreak
View of closed ‘Amnesia’ night club on July 14, 2020 in Ibiza, Spain. Summer season has kicked off in Ibiza, albeit with far fewer tourists due to the coronavirus outbreak
View of closed ‘Ushuaia’ Beach Hotel and Club and ‘Hi’ night club empty car park yesterday in Ibiza, Spain
One well-placed source said: ‘The closures decision was taken yesterday but has been kept top secret until the announcement today.’
The third street affected is one known as calle de la Cerveza, or Beer Street in English, which like calle del Jamon is within the municipality of Palma.
Brit yobs filmed jumping on top of a parked car in Punta Ballena last Friday around 2am were trashed by locals on social media.
One took to social media to rage: ‘Total chaos in Punta Ballena. Hundreds of sons of b##ches from Great Britain.
‘No face masks on, jumping on top of cars, drunk, drinking alcohol in the street. A disaster. Where’s the police? A f##king disgrace.’
One of the men filmed jumping up and down on the parked car, which was badly damaged, was arrested but released after several hours in custody.
None of the holidaymakers filmed were wearing any face masks, despite the fact there was no guaranteed social distancing and on Monday rules on their use were tightened throughout the Balearic Islands.
The number of Brit holidaymakers flying to Spain has been growing since June 21 when they were allowed in for the first time in three months.
Costa holidaymakers were given a boost on Friday after quarantine was scrapped for people arriving at English airports from Spain.
Brit revellers hoping to enjoy ‘Do what you want’ booze-fuelled holidays in Magaluf this summer were warned in June coronavirus wouldn’t stop police cracking down on them.
View of empty street and closed restaurant yesterday in Ibiza, Spain. Summer season has kicked off in Ibiza, albeit with far fewer tourists due to the coronavirus outbreak
View of closed ‘Privilege’ night club yesterday in Ibiza, Spain. While Ibiza looks a ghost town, elsewhere in Catalonia 160,000 people have reentered lockdown as cases rise in the autonomous region
People visit the 1.3-mile-long Levante beach in the Spanish south-eastern town of Benidorm, March 31, 2015
Balearics Islands tourism minister Iago Negueruela said his government would be ‘especially vigilant’ to police the decree designed to eradicate drunken tourism with fines for balcony-jumping and bans on booze cruises and drink offers like happy hours and 2×1.
And in comments echoed by local papers the tough-talking minister said local authorities would do everything possible to make sure the type of tourist they want to keep away from party resorts like Magaluf ‘don’t have the option of coming to our islands.’
Mr Negueruela has been critical of Britain’s response to the coronavirus crisis, accusing it earlier this year of being too slow to adopt lockdown measures when Boris Johnson was still talking about pursuing his so-called ‘herd immunity’ plan.
The Balearics Islands government threw all its initial efforts into attracting holidaymakers from Germany as part of a foreign tourism pilot plan UK tourists were excluded from.
The anti ‘trash tourism’ decree approved in January was billed at the time as the first in Europe to restrict the promotion and sale of alcohol in specific areas of the Balearic Islands including Magaluf and San Antonio on neighbouring Ibiza.
It includes a three-drinks alcohol limit during meals at all-inclusive hotels, a pub crawl ban and fines of more than £50,000 for holidaymakers caught jumping from hotel balconies.
On Tuesday the deputy mayor of Calvia Council said badly-behaving tourists would face the full consequences of the law.
Nati Frances, whose political brief includes responsibility for the town hall-employed local police, said: ‘We want tourists to come of course but not to misbehave like they did the other day.
‘We want holidaymakers to enjoy nightlife but not an alcohol theme park.’
Referring to the scandalous footage of the Brit tourists jumping up and down on a parked car, she told island paper Diario de Mallorca: ‘Those images worry us because they demonstrate irresponsibility in times like these.
‘But it was something very specific. They don’t reflect what happened the following day.’
Former Balearic islands president Jose Ramon Bauza described Punta Ballena as ‘500 metres of shame’ in 2014.
Tourism-dependent Spain, one of Europe’s hardest-hit countries with more than 28,000 deaths from the pandemic, brought a tough national lockdown to an end on June 21.
Since then, more than 170 clusters have sprung up, prompting regional authorities to impose a patchwork of local restrictions, confusing locals and angering businesses.
However, in Benidormg Levante beach has become so popular since the coronavirus lockdown was lifted that the town’s mayor, Toni Pérez says the new booking system has to swing into action
As yet, however, there will be no time restrictions. Sunbathers can book their slot for the entire day or just the morning or afternoon.
The other two beaches of Poniente and Mal Pas don’t need pre-booking – you just turn up with your possessions and will be shown to your square of sand. To cater for more people, all three beaches will be open later until 9.30pm and access points have been expanded to 39.
Benidorm Mayor Toni Perez said of the planned beach place booking: ‘Starting on Friday, the 17th, it will be necessary to reserve a plot to spend a day at Levante beach.
‘For this purpose, this Thursday, July 16th, at noon the web booking platform included in the Benidorm Beach Safety project will be activated, which will allow users to choose the area, plot and time (day complete, morning or afternoon).’
He then directed sun-seekers to complete a reservation form at www.benidormbeachsafety.es/, which will send them an email link to download their ‘passbook’ to be checked at the beach’s entry point.
View of an empty street and closed shops and restaurants yesterday in Ibiza, Spain. Meanwhile, demand for sun loungers is so high in Benidorm that the mayor has instituted a booking system for sunbathers
View of empty street and closed restaurant yesterday in Ibiza, Spain. Summer season has kicked off in Ibiza, albeit with far fewer tourists due to the coronavirus outbreak
View of closed ‘Privilege’ night club yesterday in Ibiza, Spain. While Ibiza looks a ghost town, elsewhere in Catalonia 160,000 people have reentered lockdown as cases rise in the autonomous region
‘There will also be three physical points of attention and information in El Torrejó building and on the promenade at the height of Europa Avenue and Rincón de Loix where, in addition to resolve incidents, those who do not have the resources or technological accessibility may also make their reservation,’ he added.
Since opening on June 15th, Benidorm’s beaches have already seen more than 381,000 people with daily peaks above 29,000. The beaches used to take three times as many people but limits have been put in place because of the coronavirus safety regulations.
The mayor said Levante was proving the most popular stretch, hence the new booking system which can be used to reserve slots either from noon on the same day or any time for the following day.
If the sunbather just wants a part of the day, morning shifts are from 9am to 3pm and afternoon ones from 3pm to 9.30pm.
The intention, he says, is to make Benidorm’s beaches the safest in Europe.
Thousands of Catalans return to lockdown as Spain fights new virus clusters
In Catalonia, a judge finally approved the regional government’s stay-at-home order for residents of the city of Lleida and six nearby towns on Tuesday night after several days of legal wrangling and political tensions over the issue.
Under the new rules, people may only leave their homes for essential activities like working or buying supplies, while hotels, restaurants and bars will close except for food pick-up or delivery.
Regional authorities have also encouraged the residents of three neighbourhoods in L’Hospitalet, a Barcelona suburb that is home to around 260,000, to stay home, but that’s not a mandatory confinement.
Sanitary personnel receive patients at a provisional hospital at Prat de la Riba in Lleida, Catalonia, Spain yesterday
Another judge refused to rubber stamp a proposed restriction on gatherings of more than 10 people there.
After more than 28,000 deaths from the pandemic, Spain’s government ended a nationwide lockdown on June 21, considering it had dealt with the worst of the virus as the number of contagions had ground to a near halt.
But since then, more than 170 clusters have sprung up around Spain, prompting regional authorities to impose a patchwork of local restrictions, confusing locals and angering businesses.
While Catalonia, which is Spain’s second-most populous region, is the first to return its citizens to home confinement, parts of Galicia have been sealed off to visitors and the Basque town of Ordizia imposed a curfew to tackle their own outbreaks.
And, following Catalonia’s lead, a string of regions introduced compulsory mask use at all times, regardless of whether social-distancing can be guaranteed. In the southern Andalusia region, the restriction even applies to beachgoers.
