Summer Vacation, This Beachside District In Spain Bans Tourists In Swimsuits And Football Jerseys From Entering Restaurants

Illustration of tourists in Mallorca. Spanish. (Wikimedia Commons/Renee20lr)

JAKARTA - One of the most popular tourist districts in Mallorca, Spain has chosen to ban people wearing soccer jerseys from entering restaurants.

Even though the holiday season has just begun, the business owners of Playa de Palma are fed up with drunken tourists. They come together to create dress codes that diners must follow or be denied entry to certain bars and restaurants.

The list of prohibited clothing includes swimwear, soccer jerseys and any accessories purchased from street vendors such as gold chains or umbrella hats.

In addition, even though you are on the beach, you can't just take off your clothes, because a shirtless person will also be denied service.

Eleven restaurants in Playa de Palma, Spain have so far enforced the ban, with QR codes at their entrances for people to check what they can and cannot wear.

While there will be some flexibility during the day, they say there will be zero tolerance at night, when bad behavior is at its worst.

Since 2020, the Balearic Islands have been cracking down on drunken travelers, with a number of measures to try and encourage more valuable visitors.

Illustration of Mallorca, Spain. (Wikimedia Commons/Fitti's Photo)

This so-called 'decision overload' applies to resorts in Magaluf, Playa de Palma and San Antonio in Ibiza. This popular party getaway destination has banned all-you-can-eat deals, bar crawls and happy hours among other measures to curb excessive alcohol consumption.

Balaeric Islands president Francina Armengol said excessive tourism was "not welcome" in the region.

"This is not the kind of tourism we want or what residents deserve," he said earlier this year before summer began.

However, business owners in Playa de Palma do not believe that the Balearic efforts to curb drunken tourists are working.

Pedro Marín and Juan Miguel Ferrer, manager and chief executive of Playa de Palma, told local media that since May 10, there has been a large group of tourists who just want to get drunk.

They don't order much in advance, stay only a few nights and generally spend around 40 euros a day, "generally on the alcohol and beer cans they consume, drink on the road."

When the tourists arrived back at their hotel in the early hours of the morning, they were so drunk they couldn't walk, the business owner said. Often they are left lying alone on the sidewalk.

"Alcohol availability in all-inclusive hotels may have been brought under control, but the problem is in the streets," they said.