The Balearic Island chain has long been a popular destination for European holidaymakers. But now tourists heading to the island of Majorca are being warned to cover up before leaving the beach or face being fined.
Self-study activity:
Watch this BBC video and answer the questions about it. The activity is suitable for Intermediate students.
1 How many tourists visited Greece last year?
2 What kind of tourists does Majorca want to attract?
3 What made the local authorities in Palma change some local laws?
4 What do 50€ and 200€ refer to?
5 What's the difference between Palma and New Jersey?
6 When are tourists expected to start paying fines if inappropriately dressed?
7 What do critics say about this new regulation?
To check your answers you can read the transcript below.
In recent months some of the Mediterranean countries hit worse by the Euro-zone crisis as seeing their resorts filling up once again. More than 15m international arrivals landed in Greece last year (1) while Spain saw almost 60m. But have these countries learned any lessons.
Well, for the Spanish island of Majorca the answer is maybe. There they’re talking not only about recovery, but also redefining their product. In short, Palma is going up market (2). That’s why there’s been a huge investment in top of the range hotels here, more than twenty built in the last three years, and there are many more planned. And along with wanting more high-end tourists (2), locals now have higher expectations of the way they want their visitors to behave. So, less of this, and more of this. And that’s partly why they’ve introduced the good citizen plan.
Authorities in Palma say the good citizen plan and the subsequent changes to local laws came about at the request of residents (3), some of whom were so fed up with tourists coming off the beach into the old town inappropriately dressed.
The penalties which make up the good citizen plan start at €50 for anyone not wearing a top or T-shirt away from beach areas, €50 for riding a bike on the pavement and €200 if you’re caught buying merchandise from illegal street traders (4). And it’s not just places like Palma where local sensibilities are being offended by tourists, in May authorities in Qatar brought in new rules for visitors to dress modestly in public and respect the Islamic country’s values. Meanwhile in New Jersey in America, it’s the tourists who have the upper hand after laws were passed banning locals from wearing saggy jeans or pants on its boardwalks following a number of complaints from visitors (5).
There tends to be people wandering off the beach and not being aware of the fact that they might cause offence, you know, by wearing inappropriate clothing, you know, speedos, bikinis, with everything hanging out, you know. Let’s be frank, it’s not that pleasant.
Local journalist Anna Nicholas has lived in Majorca for more than 10 years and says she can see why the city council is following in the footsteps of other European cities like Barcelona, which introduced a similar plan last year.
I’ve heard they won’t slap fines immediately, maybe give people a little bit of warning for the first few months of this summer, maybe next year bring it in and come in a bit heavy once people know what’s going on (6), but I think, you know, the idea is that tourists are welcome here, you know, it’s not an idea to just slap fines on people and they have a horrible holiday.
But for unwitting tourists the laws could mean they find themselves on a more expensive holiday than they bargain for.
It was very awful to go through the city and be in contact with people they don’t wear shirts, yeah, you know, it’s not, it’s a question of aesthetic.
The fine is just €50 so, so people could learn from it because if you go in this area, by the beach, for me it’s fine if people just go in their, their swimming suit. It’s not proper if you want to go to the downtown, for example, to the restaurant to have a drink or to some shops, that time for sure you should wear something.
While critics have suggested this is just a money-making venture (7), Palma city council insists this is not true.
No, no, absolutely not. This is a manner to, to still being a relaxing city that we are, we are a really… we are in, in a good position to be a new destination for the next twenty years.
And what happens if a tourist simply says I have no money?
What happen if I go to Piccadilly Circus and I say to the police, I’m sorry, I don’t have money? What happen? It is the same in London, it’s the same in Berlin, it’s the same in… wherever. If I go to Rome and I say a police, I don’t have money, the police say, okay, come with me. And at the end, I pay. It’s quite simple, so… here’s the same.
And the vice-mayor is hopeful that other towns in Majorca will soon follow suit and adopt their own good citizen plans. But for now, it’s simple. If you’ve got it, don’t flaunt it, at least not here in Palma, as it could cost you dearly.
