Residents of a village in Menorca, fed up with disrespectful tourists, will vote tonight on whether to put a limit on the number of visitors or ban them altogether.
In May, residents of Binibeca Vell, a fishing village in southern Menorca known as the “Spanish Mykonos,” said they did not want visitors before 11 a.m. or after 8 p.m. in a bid to prevent selfie-seeking tourists from trampling on their private property.
But now its residents are going one step further and toying with the idea of completely blocking tourists from visiting their town.
The vote will take place this afternoon and will be conducted by the local residents’ association.
Speaking to MailOnline, one member of the group said: “We’re not against tourism, we’re just against uncivilised people,” adding: “As a community we have rules that we can only hope people will abide by.”
Residents of a Menorcan village, fed up with disrespectful, Instagram-obsessed tourists, will vote tonight on whether to cap the number of visitors or ban them altogether.
Maita, a 63-year-old local resident who divides her time between the village and Barcelona, told MailOnline how large groups of rowdy tourists have caused chaos in the village.
Visitors are urged to “avoid uncivil behaviour” by refraining from “entering houses or climbing stairs or balconies” and to help keep the village clean by “using rubbish bins and keeping the walls white”.
Although this is not an official referendum, the 195 property owners who live in Binibeca will decide on a solution to deal with the waves of tourists arriving in the Menorcan town, which amount to around 800,000 a year.
Residents currently chain together all 22 entrances to their gated community, which is known for its narrow cobblestone alleys that wind between whitewashed homes.
Locals in Binibeca have long complained about how hordes of rowdy, social media-obsessed tourists invade the village during the summer season and ruin their peace and privacy in search of an Instagram-worthy holiday snap.
On the village’s website, fed-up locals began sharing photos of tourists disrespecting their private homes, with one shown lying on a staircase and another climbing a balcony.
The website urges visitors to “avoid uncivil behaviour” by refraining from “entering houses or climbing stairs or balconies” and to help keep the village clean by “using rubbish bins and keeping the walls white”.
Concerned business owners warn that a total ban would be disastrous for them as they rely heavily on trade from tourists visiting the town.
Oscar Monge, president of the Binibeca Vell Community of Property Owners, has insisted that tourists are welcome in the town and that the new rules are not designed to ruin anyone’s livelihood.
The image shows the town of Binibeca Vell, known as the “Spanish Mykonos”.
A crowd of tourists is seen crowding into a small alley in the village to take photos in front of the picturesque white stone houses.
A young woman poses for a photograph on private property in the town.
Residents have long complained about how hordes of rowdy tourists invade the village.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, he said most villagers backed the new rules as a “matter of common sense”.
He said there was a municipal agreement last year allowing tourists to enter Binibeca Vell from midday to 9pm, but accused the island council of scuppering it by failing to properly regulate the traffic of buses full of tourists arriving in the town and withdrawing a 15,000 euro grant to help clean up rubbish left by tourists.
Mr Monge added: ‘I think the measures are having the desired effects as far as homeowners here are concerned in terms of the number of people during off-hours.
‘Regulation of tour coaches is improving and there appears to be a better understanding of the situation among the tour operators who operate them.
Residents of a Menorcan village known as the “Spanish Mykonos” have denied that they have declared “war” on tourists by chaining up their streets at night. A caretaker fixes the chains on the streets
British tourists said the “anti-tourist” measures made them feel unwelcome and would make them think twice about visiting the Balearics again.
‘We are very pleased that tourists are coming to Binibeca Vell.
‘But it is not normal that the Island Council charges (up to €4 per person in tourist tax) and does not want to help a tourist destination as emblematic as our town, where five of the photos you see of Menorca are from here, and then takes away the €15,000 subsidy we received to pay a private company to remove the rubbish from visitors.
‘Things reach a point where people say ‘enough is enough’ and that’s what has happened.
‘Tourists are welcome during permitted hours, they can visit Binibeca Vell for free and outside of these hours they can visit the restaurants which are all outside the cordoned off area from 8pm.
‘We don’t receive any help to maintain our community as it is.
‘It costs us about 100,000 euros a year to keep the houses so white because the facades turn black when people put their hands on the walls.
‘If we didn’t have 800,000 visitors a year, we would probably only have to paint every two or possibly three years.
This comes as anti-tourism protests have spread across Spain this summer.
Last month, under the slogan ‘Enough! Let’s put limits on tourism’, some 2,800 people – according to the police – marched through a neighbourhood on Barcelona’s seafront to demand a new economic model that would reduce the millions of tourists who visit every year.
Protesters carried signs reading “Barcelona is not for sale” and “Tourists, go home”, before some used water pistols on tourists eating outdoors at restaurants in popular tourist spots. Chants of “Tourists, get out of our neighbourhood” could be heard as some stopped outside hotel entrances.
Members of the Mallorca Platja Tour association demonstrate against tourism with a banner reading ‘Let’s occupy our beaches!’ on the beach of Palma de Mallorca yesterday
Members of the Mallorca Platja Tour association demonstrate against the tourist saturation on the beach of Palma de Mallorca
Protesters protest yesterday against the level of tourism on the beach in Palma de Mallorca
The activist group said they chose the area because it is known for drunkenness and disorder.
In the Canary Islands, 50,000 people took to the streets of Tenerife in April to protest against tourism on the island.
Protesters waved signs reading “You enjoy, we suffer”, claiming that the huge influx of tourists to the island is causing huge environmental damage, driving down wages and driving locals out of cheap, affordable housing, forcing dozens of people to live in tents and cars.
Also last month, anti-tourism activists in Mallorca mocked England’s defeat in the Euro 2024 final against Spain and demanded that Britain “get its drunks back”, as thousands of people demonstrated against tourists.
Up to 50,000 residents took to the streets of the Mallorcan capital Palma to demand restrictions on the number of foreign visitors allowed on the Spanish island.
This is despite calls from the regional government for protesters to show “respect” to foreign visitors during the march, as the wave of anti-tourist sentiment continues to grow in the Mediterranean.
The Balearic Islands received almost 18 million tourists last year and this year reservations for the summer have increased by 15%, the president confirmed.
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