Business owners in one of Spain's most popular holiday resorts have urged government officials to close a loophole promoting all-inclusive hotel deals.
Bar owners and workers in the Calvia area of Majorca - which includes the party resort of Magaluf - claim early season offers by UK tour operators and hotel chains are in contradiction to recently-imposed rules designed to outlaw excessive drinking, bar crawls and happy hour promotions.
They are calling for consistency for government imposing the so-called law of excesses that was brought in to curb the widely-publicised bad behaviour of tourists, including UK revellers.
Local entrepreneurs said the all-inclusive deals promote excess alcohol consumption and do not encourage holidaymakers to venture out of their hotels.
Businesses agreed a code of conduct to combat tourist excesses last January - but it does not apply to hotel chains. Magaluf is still one of Europe's most popular destinations for UK tourists with major tour operators like Jet2, easyJet and Tui and travel agencies like OnTheBeach and LoveHolidays all selling holidays.
The resort has been badly hit by the pandemic with many venues shutting for good and others struggling.
Spokesman Diego Belmonte told local media: "Who is it that gets tourists drunk? If they do not leave hotels until midnight, is it our bars or is it the all-inclusive?"
He called on hotel owners and politicians "to make an effort to really change the tourism model" and prevent the all-inclusive deals.
Only a handful of Magaluf hotels are covered by the law of excesses restrictions. Hotels in the designated area only allow limited numbers of alcoholic drinks that must be taken with meals.
Elsewhere, there is no restriction on alcohol as part of an all-inclusive package.
The demand follows a controversial relaxing of lockdown rules on the holiday island, which allow bars and restaurants to serve customers on terraces from 8pm to 10.30pm Monday to Thursday. However, restrictions still apply at weekends when premises are only allowed to open until 5pm.
Non-essential shops are also allowed to open until 9pm and on Sundays.
President of the Balearic Islands Francina Armengol wants restrictions to continue even when Spain's national State Of Alarm ends on May 9.
She is reportedly determined to make sure the Balearic Islands are included on the UK’s safe ‘Green’ list of destinations after May 17 when foreign travel is likely to get the go-ahead.
The regional government insisted its objective was to guarantee the resumption of tourism and reactivate the economy.
