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Costa resort to banish the drunk and disorderly

Emma Anderson
Emma Anderson - [email protected]
Costa resort to banish the drunk and disorderly
A foam party in Lloret de Mar. Photo: karlkaracho / Flickr Creative Commons.

Sick and tired of tourists behaving badly on their holidays, the popular resort of Lloret de Mar on Spain's northeastern coast will now banish troublemakers from their hotels.

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Holiday hotspots across Spain have been cracking down on the at times outrageous behaviour of tourists, imposing fines and limits on selling alcohol but Lloret de Mar is the first resort to introduce a measure that will see the troublemakers actually kicked out of their hotels.

The town council of Lloret de Mar on Catalonia’s Costa Brava approved on Monday amendments to by-laws that in addition to the imposition of fines on those caught drinking in public, urinating in the street or provoking fights, will require hotels to inform visitors upon check-in that this behavior could leave them without a place to stay. 

"Badly behaved tourists will not be allowed to stay at the hotel during their vacation and they will have to find another place to stay," a town spokesman told The Local. 

Disorderly conduct like public urination and drinking were prohibited before with fines of up to €3,500, but the spokesman explained that the city now requires hotels and other vacation accommodations to inform tourists as soon as they arrive of the consequences.

Though the city says expulsion is a "last resort", it is also up to the hotel to decide at what point they will tell someone to leave.

"What happens inside the hotel is up to the management and when they want to expel someone," the spokesman said.

Hotels will also now be obliged by law to have a concierge or private security in order to deal with troublemakers and have been told to contact police when a guest's behavior is too out of control for them to handle.

The resort has been a long favourite with package holiday makers attracted to cheap beach tourism but in recent years its reputation as a destination for a young crowd in search of sun, sea and sex fueled by cheap alcohol has caused concern among locals. 

A 2012 German reality show called We Love Lloret angered many locals because of its depiction of the town as a place full of excessive drinking and partying. The city complained to the show's producers and considered taking legal action, but did not, according to Spanish daily ABC.

Other popular beachside binging spots in Spain have implemented stricter laws for drunken tourist behaviour this year, including resort Magaluf on island Mallorca where officials have increased police presence, limited alcohol sales after midnight and ramped up fines for public urination, defecation and spitting.

Salamanca has also investigated "grope parties" and wet T-shirt contests at nightlife venues, amid concerns that the university town is developing a sleazy reputation like that of Magaluf.

Barcelona has adopted stricter measures to confront overflowing waves of tourists this year, banning large tour groups from entering an iconic market and suspending the issuance of new tourist accommodation licenses.

And both the Balearic and Canary Islands have said in recent months they are considering putting restrictions on tourism in their own resort sites.

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