In theory the booze cruises should comply with a set of requisites laid down in the tourism and maritime transport laws but, according to Pepe Tirado, the president of Acotur, the association of tourism businesses, the majority do not. There are strict controls regulating noise, the quality of food and drinks served, the number of people on board at any one time and, of course, safety and security.
One company in particular operated 74 booze cruises last summer and, after a winter of heavy online promotion and advertising, the booze cruises are fully booked during June, July and August. Tirado said that the majority of the companies organising these events are British and they are failing to comply with the required norms and regulations and are therefore "illegal competition" to the rest of the entertainment sector.
Tirado said that his association has reported the booze cruises to the ministry of tourism and the central government delegate on a number of occasions in an attempt to prompt inspections being carried out. "But nothing has happened yet. However, it will, but only once we’ve had a tragedy," he said.
Tirado also stressed that these cruises are not good for the island’s image. "They stagger off the boats like sacks of potatoes and these cruises totally clash with Calvia's attempt to eradicate anti-social behaviour. They’ve managed to curtail pub crawls but it looks like now they’re going to have to do something about booze cruises."
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Calvia's bye laws have covered booze cruise conduct since 1991. Not that Calvia implements its bye laws fairly or effectively. Which is why the Guardia Civil are investigating the police at the moment...
View Magaluf from the air and you soon realise that it is just a 1km by 1km little enclave that is hardly representative of the rest of Mallorca, yet it gets all the negative publicity. It brings in lots of money from high volume numbers of people spending relatively modest sums over a short space of time, so to kill it off would harm the economy. The answer is to police it far more effectively, make safety a bigger priority,and say thank-you for the income. Nobody is forced onto booze-cruises, they choose it. Personally I'd never go near one, but, we're all different. Good effective policing is expensive, but if you want the substantial income then you must make the investment. It is naive to think that you can close your eyes to the "problem".
Unlike James,I would not wish a boat to sink as we have all been young and probably drank too much now and again,myself included but I would crack down hard on the organisers of these booze cruises because they don't give a damn for the safety and welfare of the young people they entice on to these cruises,just how much money they can make out of them.
You can hear the boats from a mile away (literally), with the DJ shouting obsenities and getting the p***** up youngsters to do the same, oblivious of the the families with children on the beaches, hotel/appt terraces and restaurants. They customers stagger off continuing with the antisocial chants of "Magaf******luf!" They're a disgrace. The sooner one sinks the better!