Magaluf, ground zero for drunken tourism in Mallorca, the paradise of ‘low cost’ trips, of ‘balconing’, of alcoholic excursions and the paradise of excesses will be in the hands of Vox as of this Saturday. The party will manage the island’s well-known leisure area thanks to the agreement reached between the PP and Vox to govern Calvià, the municipality where this area is located.
The PSOE was the list with the most votes in the last elections but PP and Vox have an absolute majority to be able to govern and José Antonio Amengual, an impromptu candidate for the PP and almost unknown, will be the mayor of the municipality this Saturday after the agreement.
Magaluf is a coastal area in the municipality of Calvià where hundreds of thousands of young British tourists spend their holidays each year, taking advantage of the fact that the hotels are cheap, that until recently alcohol circulated without measure and that for years there has been an almost total absence of regulations and standards.
Every year more than a dozen tourists are killed or injured after falling from hotel balconies. The fights are constant and Magaluf has been for years the center of the nightlife in Mallorca and the place where BCM was, one of the great discos on the island, owned by the well-known king of the Mallorcan nightlife, Bartolomé Cursach, protagonist of a notorious corruption trial that ended with sobs from the prosecutor asking the businessman for forgiveness.
During the last legislature, the Government of the socialist Francina Armengol has tried to combat this excess tourism with very strict regulations that include sanctions on hotels, a ban on pub crawling, alcoholic excursions through the bars in the area, and many Limitations on the sale of alcohol in shops. There have been changes in the law and very harsh ordinances and the entire area was closed for a while to avoid contagion from the covid.
Now it will be Vox who manages this area, predictably with a heavy hand. The Vox candidate, Esperanza Catalá, will be the first deputy mayor of Police, Civil Protection and other powers and the pact indicates that Abascal’s party will manage this point, in addition to other nearby enclaves where family tourism coexists with luxury residences, such as Cas Català, Illetes or Bendinat.
During all these years, PP and Vox have supported the regulations of the left to contain drunken tourism, although with nuances. There has been support, but in parallel there have been demands to the Balearic Government and that of Pedro Sánchez to expand the police forces in the area. The slogan ‘strong hand against excesses’ can be verified as of this summer.
