Facing the music

BAR and nightclub owners in Mallorca are up in arms over the enforcement of the controversial ‘excess law’ designed to curb antisocial behaviour.

They complain that over the last two years the regional legislation has caused ‘arbitrary’ closures and an ‘unacceptable’ discrimination between establishments located within and outside the so­called ‘excess areas’ in Platja de Palma, Sant Antoni de Portmany and Magaluf.

The Calvia town is said to bear the brunt of the law, where bars, restaurants and discotheques can be shut down immediately according to the discretion of police officers.

This leads to heavy economic losses and leaves business owners at the mercy of the decisions of individual officers, they say.

Often the authorities then rule in favour of the business and allow it to be reopened, but in the meantime owners have suffered significant financial losses.

A clear example of this was reported recently by the Euro Weekly News, when Temple disco in Magaluf was shut down after apolice patrol decreed that a go­go dancer working at the club constituted a case of ‘objectification of women’ despite the fact that the law does not specify in which cases that rule can be applied and that go­go dancers had worked there for two years without any problems. Managers complain many owners are predicting up to 30 per cent of their profits will have to be spent on fines.

But not just on the island, as the Spanish tourism sector in general has expressed its surprise and excitement at the reservation figures and predictions for the high season that kicks off at all major tourism hotspots throughout the country this weekend.

Although at a global level travel figures are not expected to recover to pre­Covid levels until next year at the very earliest, the Mediterranean countries of southern Europe are roaring ahead and have already exceeded the figures for 2019 by 1 per cent, according to data from the United Nation’s World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) ­ even before the summer high season.

Easter already showed the first signs with Spain receiving 7.2 million visitors in April alone ­ 18.5 per cent more than the same month in 2022.

And everything suggests that the upwards trend will continue throughout July, August and September, despite the effects of inflation, the war in Ukraine and a global economy that is still reeling from the effects of the pan­ demic. Analysts for the UNWTO explain that in fact Covid is the main reason for the surge in tourism, as even people who did not use to travel are keen to do so now after the restrictions and lockdowns.

However, the experts predict that the trend will most likely stabilise next year with figures returning to normal levels.