Minister slams encouragementof ‘drunken tourism’

17 August.2004

MADRID – Bars in the Costa Brava resort of Lloret de Mar have been accused of actively encouraging “drunken tourism” by the Catalan regional government’s Counsellor (Minister) for the Interior, Montserrat Tura.

It was time that action was taken against those bars which made it easy for youngsters to get drunk, Turat said on Tuesday.

Her comments came after the running battles in Lloret de Mar last Wednesday, when police came up against 200 youngsters on a rampage which cost EUR 7,500 in damage to property, according to the town hall.

Turat said that increasing the number of police was not the answer to what had become a habitual summer problem; what was needed was a “reconversion of the tourism sector.”

Various bars in Lloret had no licenses or broke bye-laws, while several hotels had reached a state where “they should be closed down”.

The Counsellor said she had expressed her worries to the regional tourism authorities and suggested they start trying to change the resort’s image, “although that should have happened 10 years ago,” she added.

The town had “veritable circuits for those seeking a drunken coma”, with some bars organising routes by bus, which ended up with the customers being left in the town centre.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news