A Spanish holiday destination is trying to prevent British tourists by telling them to stay away. The popular Menorca village, Binibeca Vell, is threatening to ban all tourists. Earlier it asked tourists to come between 11 am and 8.30 pm so they could “enjoy their breakfast”. Menorca, the quieter of the three Balearic islands, is expected to see more than a million tourists disembark this summer following a social media-fuelled tourist boom. As MailOnline reports, residents of the fishing village have complained about bad behaviour from tourists, which has ranged from breaking into houses to climbing onto balconies. Last year, residents asked tourists to visit the village and its famous whitewashed walls between 11 am and 8 pm in a bid to curb anti-social behaviour.
Oscar Monge, who heads a group representing the owners of Binibeca Vell, said in an interview: “Binibeca Vell is not a place of adventure, it is a private housing development where people live.” If tourists do not comply with Binabeca Vell’s wishes, they face a total ban. Menorca’s tourism director Begona Mercadal said the village could be closed to tourism. She said: “We are clear that it is private property and if they want to close it, that is their right.”
The Balearics are trying to rehabilitate their tourism and deter the cheap tourists – many of them Brits – who flock to the islands in summer. Menorca, literally a smaller island, is one of the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea and belongs to Spain. Its name derives from its size, which distinguishes it from nearby Mallorca.
The island is known for its collection of megalithic stone monuments: navetes, taules and talayots, which indicate very early prehistoric human activity. Some of the earliest cultures on Menorca were influenced by other Mediterranean cultures, including the Greek Minoans on ancient Crete.
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