Spain has launched a fight against 'drinking and debauchery tourism'
The troublemakers are mainly Western European youth, especially British, who head to Spain lured by low prices on plane tickets, accommodation and alcohol to party wildly. The fun starts after midnight when the heat subsides. They drink everywhere – in bars, on the street, in hotel rooms, at discos and on beaches. The drinking is accompanied by yelling, brawls, breaking shop windows, running naked through the streets of resort towns, harassing passersby and other petty hooliganism.
The 'wildest' resorts for youthful revelry are well known. They are Magaluf in Mallorca, favored by the British, or the Barcelona area of Calella, a favorite spot for French students' rowdy pastimes. Also on the list of the most 'debauched' resorts are the Catalan towns of Barceloneta, Salou and Lloret de Mar. The latter is 'monopolized' by youth from Germany. And in Valencia, Gandia stands out for its wild fun. 'At three in the morning, the fun is in full swing,' says local resident Magdalena Pons. 'Noisy crowds of tipsy young people head to the beach or the disco. It's impossible to sleep. And it goes on all summer – every day.'
The Spanish authorities have given each municipality the right to deal with troublemakers on its own. Lloret de Mar, for example, has exercised this right. Henceforth, under a mayoral decree, vacationers are strictly forbidden from drinking alcoholic beverages on the beach, drinking and urinating in the street. All this, as well as noisy behavior at night, is punishable by a high fine. And in case of repeated behavior, forced deportation from the resort back home. In addition, hotels are now allowed to hire private security guards and compile lists of brawlers who, if they reappear in Lloret de Mar in subsequent years, may be denied accommodation in hotels. This year, several of the most notorious nightclubs, bars and discos have also been closed in the resort.
And local police are being helped to maintain order by their colleagues from countries whose citizens are especially numerous on Spain's beaches. These are French police and gendarmes, representatives of law enforcement agencies from Portugal, Germany, Italy and Great Britain. Senior Inspector of the Spanish National Police Pedro González Díaz speaks about joint work with French colleagues: 'We are talking about joint patrols. Police from France and other countries cooperate with us to maintain proper order. It is, of course, not only about curbing hooliganism, but also helping those tourists who need it.'
French police officers work in their own uniforms and with their service weapons. For this assignment, officers who speak Spanish were selected. 'We belong to the police of different countries, but we have one task: to fight offenders and help those who have suffered from them. Our police uniforms are different, but the work is the same,' says Serge Debul, sent to Catalonia this summer from Lyon.
As Radio RFI notes, the joint patrol project to maintain order at Spanish resorts, called 'European Police Commissariats', is funded by the European Union.