TOURISTS who booked a holiday to Magaluf or Ibiza before January 23 will not be affected by the current booze ban, it has been advised.
The Spanish government has cracked down on the way alcohol is sold in the areas to curb anti-social tourist behaviour and “booze tourism”.
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The new laws, introduced last month, include a ban on happy hour deals, while party boats cannot advertise or dock in the area.
Shops must also stop selling alcohol after 8:30pm, while alcohol vending machines and booze adverts including pub crawls can no longer be advertised.
Tourists in the regions of Playa de Palma and Magaluf in Majorca as well as Sant Antoni in Ibiza are currently the only regions where the restrictions are in place.
However, concerned tourists have written on social media expressing their concerns for their all-inclusive holidays.
Twitter user John Darbyshire asked: “What’s the score with claiming money back on holidays to Magaluf for all inclusive now that they can’t provide us with all inclusive?”
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Stevi added: “So the Majorcan government are imposing new legislation regarding all inc holidays in #Magaluf and #Palma and yet @TUIUK can give me absolutely ZERO information as to whether it’ll affect my holiday this year. #topserviceguys.”
ABTA explained in a statement that guests who booked before January 23 will remain unaffected by the alcohol ban.
A spokesperson said: “Some of the measures introduced by the Balearic Islands authorities to limit anti-social behaviour have potential to cause confusion for UK holidaymakers, so we welcome the recent clarification from the authorities, including that the restrictions will only apply to certain limited areas in Mallorca and Ibiza rather than the whole of the Balearics as originally proposed.
“It is important to note that the limits on alcoholic drinks in all-inclusive hotels does not apply to any holidays booked before 23 January 2020, for travel during 2020.”
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“For all-inclusive holidays booked after that date, we recommend that customers check with the agent or operator selling the holiday, as the exemption will still apply if there was an existing contract between the hotel and the tour operator agreed before that date.”
However, it isn’t made clear how hotels will implement this, or be able to differentiate between guests who paid before and after the dates.
Local businesses can face fines over £500,000 if caught breaking the new law, as well as being shut down for up to three years.
Tourists can be fined up to £50,000 for breaching the policy.
Brits trying to avoid the booze ban are choosing all-inclusive hotels just 30m from the affected zones, so they can continue drinking.
A couple in Ibiza were caught brazenly having sex on a lighthouse in front of a tourist boat.
Police arrested a group of lads in Magaluf for using “monopoly money to buy alcohol”.
