Behaving badly

The British have the reputation as being the bad boys of the Majorcan tourist industry. “Rowdy British tourists” is a headline which appears regularly in the Spanish media. Calle Punta Ballena in Magalluf, the infamous strip, also receives plenty of attention for all the wrong reasons. But that was then and this is now. The Brits are no longer the only “Man (and Woman) Behaving Badly,” German tourists are also in the headlines for their behaviour. In fact one local newspaper reported this week that a local tourism official had said that badly behaved Germans could stay away. Now, for some on the island it is the Brits that cause the trouble and the Germans who spend the money. But this season there has been a massive growth in incidents in the Playa de Palma. Police even arrested a group of German neo-nazis. And it is not just the Playa de Palma. Other resorts, popular with German tourists, have also had their fair share of incidents of bad behaviour. So what has changed? Well, not too much really. Everyone has always known that the Playa de Palma was probably on a par with Magalluf but the increase in the number of incidents has led to a growth in the publicity it receives. In fact I would say that the Playa de Palma has been in the headlines for the wrong reasons more than Magalluf. Now, I have said in this space on numerous occasions. If Majorca wants to outlaw so-called “badly behaved boozy tourists,” it can do so... but does it want to?