Locals in a town in Menorca are holding a referendum to ban tourists after being “trapped” in homes by influencers.
Binibeca Vell dubbed “Spain’s Mykonos” is known for its whitewashed cottages and winding walkways. However, it can only accommodate 500 permanent residents in the summer, but every year 800,000 tourists cram into its alleyways.
Locals had previously said they did not want any visitors roaming around their private roads before 11am and after 8pm, resorting to chaining up all 22 entrances to the village in a desperate bid to keep tourists away.
Now, they will take matters one step further with all 195 residents voting today on whether to completely ban all tourists from Binibeca Vell.
The tourist hotspot in Menorca
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The residents of the village are holding a referendum
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Resident Edoardo Gomez, 31, told The Telegraph: “There’ll be a person posing for a photo. And as soon as they’re done, another one steps forward. The tourists touch everything.
“One of our neighbours has lots of plants in pots and the tourists move them so that they can get a better photo. They sit in chairs on private verandas.”
President of the residents’ association of Binibeca Vell Oscar Monge said: “We pay dearly for being the most popular tourist attraction in Menorca.
“Binibeca is promoted by the island administration and the tourism companies, but what benefit do we get out of it? We don’t have anything against tourism, but sometimes it feels like we’re living in Disneyland Paris.”
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The tourist hotspot in Menorca
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Streets in the Menorcan village
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A no entry sign was broken off
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Miquel Camps, from an environmental group called GOB – the Balearic Group for Ornithology and the Protection of the Environment said: “Menorca has started suffering from over-tourism in the last seven or eight years.
“We need to have a discussion about what sort of model we want for the future. We don’t want the Ibiza model.”
However, not everyone was opposed to the visiting tourists. Noria Llabres, who owns a shop selling hats, baskets, bags and sandals in the strip that adjoins Binibeca Vell said how crucial tourism was to their business.
They said: “It would be a big problem for us…If fewer tourists come, we’ll sell less. All the businesses here live off tourism.”
. A street of Binibeca Vell, Menorca
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Alicia, the owner of a boutique just outside the village, told The Telegraph: “We do have sympathy for the inhabitants, it’s crazy in summer.
“Tourists enter people’s homes to take photos, the residents are very tired of all this. I want them to have their privacy but at the same time, my whole family depends on my shop.”
“In Menorca, 88 per cent of people depend directly or indirectly on tourism…so what do you do? We don’t want to be so dependent. But we don’t have alternatives.
“It’s not as bad yet as over-tourism in Ibiza or Majorca, but you can see the signs. Everybody knows it’s going to happen.”
Source Agencies
