Young Brits under fire after Magaluf officials target ‘debauchery’ | World | News
Magaluf ranks among the most notorious holiday destinations for rowdy young Brits – but officials in the Majorcan resort say it’s a reputation that no longer matches reality. For years, the “debauchery” of western tourists letting loose was a thorn in the side of the town’s leaders and locals, prompting a transformation that began over a decade ago but is only now having a measurable impact. New municipal regulations devised around 2011 included a process of beautifying that saw upgrades and rebrands to infrastructure and accommodation.
It was buoyed along by a new “tourism of excesses” decree, implemented by the Majorcan government in 2020 to restrict the sale of alcohol and shorten the opening hours of clubs and bars. Five years after the law was passed, the results are evident, Mauricio Carballeda, resident of the Palmanova-Magaluf Hoteliers Association, said. “The young British tourist, eager for partying and debauchery, no longer predominates,” he explained.
“[There has been] a change in visitor profile,” Mr Carballeda told the Majorca Daily Bulletin. “Instead, there is a more family-oriented profile with greater purchasing power.”
The news that the seaside resort has managed to successfully shift its clientele to a more “peaceful” crowd comes after an uncertain few months, when the crackdown on unruly behaviour appeared to be chasing holiday trade away.
The rules included fines of up to £50,000 for balcony jumping, limits on alcohol consumption in all-inclusive resorts and bans on late-night street drinking.
But Mr Carballeda insisted that this year’s peak season had matched 2024 in revenue terms – even as anti-tourism protests continue across Majorca, stoking fears that would-be holidaymakers will choose to go where they are wanted.
There have been fewer reservations overall, but price increases have offset a slight weakening in demand, he explained. The Balearic Islands’ year-on-year Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose to 2.8% in June, with restaurant and hotel prices up 5% on the previous year.
“We’re returning to pre-pandemic figures,” Mr Carballeda said.
In a particular blow to Brits with fond memories of living it up in Magaluf, officials have made a pivot away from the UK another core part of the new tourism strategy.
In a 350-page “Sustainability Pact” published in the spring, Majorcan officials laid out plans to “reduce dependence on traditional tourist markets”, chiefly the UK and Germany, with the former dispatching 18.4 million tourists to the archipelago in 2024, and the latter 11.9 million.
