Controls to come on drinking at Palma airport?

Controls to come on drinking at Palma airport? | CLICK

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma12/08/2016 00:00
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Més wants to introduce a code of best practice to tackle drunkenness on planes and at airports. The party is taking its lead from the UK, where the government has set out such a code. This is designed in particular to prevent incidents occurring, of which the majority appear to involve flights to the Balearics.

Margalida Capellà and Antoni Reus of Més presented their ideas for a code at a press conference at the Balearic parliament, Capellà observing that it would not be an initiative against tourists or against the British but against the whole notion of drunken tourism. "This can affect flight safety while it affects other passengers who are in a confined space with people who are drunk when they board and then continue to drink."

Although Més says this would not be a measure directed at the British, it wants the Spanish government to cooperate with the UK government in avoiding drunken incidents. It is also urging the Balearic and Spanish governments to press for a code of practice related to responsible consumption of alcohol.

The UK ministry of transport has announced a review of regulations on the sale of alcohol at airports, Capellà notes, and she suggests that there should be a restriction on this sale at Spain's airports. The measures to be adopted in the UK, she believes, will assist in creating a "different impression" of British tourism.

A 2014 study suggested that one in seven British travellers arrive at their destinations in a state of drunkenness. Half of these had started drinking at the departure airport.