Fury in Spain as tourists ‘treated like animals’ by new law | World | News

Tourist group sizes will be smaller under a new law which has angered tour guides in Palma.

Tour guides say the new rule is unreasonable and that they feel they are being treated like criminals – and tourists like animals.

Proguies Turístics de Baleares says the Palma City Council’s plan to limit guided tours to 20 people per group flies in the face of Balearic Islands’ regulations, which allow groups of up to 70.

“The current average group size is between 30 and 50 people,” said president Gabriel Rosales.

“It’s baffling that the council didn’t consider the existing regulations before moving forward with this.”

Rosales is also concerned about how police will monitor how many people are in a tourist group as people sometimes join “on the fly”.

Raising worries about what people will do in the circumstance, he said: “Are we going to tag them like animals? Or hand out batons to keep out the ‘unauthorised’ tourists?” 

The new rule will mean the tourism sector could encounter difficulties as a result of the change, reports The Olive Press.

Torturing groups of just 19 people will make it hard to sell tours as it will be financially unsustainable, Rosales added.

But this won’t be the only impact it will have on the area. 

Popular attractions could see a decline in visitors meaning they will make a much smaller revenue.

Tour guides will also be asked to display ID as part of a new requirement.

“This violates our privacy rights and clashes with data protection laws,” Rosales said.

“Why should we have to reveal all this information when a police officer only needs to show a badge number? It’s like we’re being treated like criminals.”

The proposed rule is currently in a public comment period before it goes to the full council for a final vote.

This comes after Spain has experienced a massive drop in tourist numbers due to “overcrowded” holiday hotspots.

Figures show that the number of domestic tourists fell in the first seven months of 2024, compared to the same period a year before.

The number of domestic tourists went from 41.37 million between January to July in 2023 to 40.98 million in 2024 for the same period, according to Spanish daily El Pais.

Partly to blame are rising prices in Spain, pushed up by demand from foreign visitors, as well as overcrowding at popular destinations by tourists from abroad.

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