Spain holiday warning: Coastal village Binibeca Vell in Menorca popular with UK holidaymakers threatens to close after number of tourists booms
Binibeca Vell, a coastal village in Spain’s Balaeric island of Menorca, is threatening to close due to the number of tourists in the region
A picturesque coastal village on Spain’s Balearic island of Menorca, overlooking the Mediterranean sea, is threatening to close access to tourists after numbers have boomed. The village of Binibeca Vell has long been a magnet for tourists with its narrow streets and whitewashed houses set in a calm cove.
Social media posts of the village has increased its popularity further with residents now threatening to stop access to the village. The number of visitors has soared to about 800,000 a year according to Óscar Monge, who heads the group representing Binibeca Vell’s 195 property owners.
He told the Guardian that the problem “isn’t tourists” but officials, who have forsaken residents. He said: “If the administration continues to leave us abandoned, in August we’ll carry out a vote among owners on whether we should close up the development.”
Last year, residents were given €15,000 (£12,850) to help with rubbish removal, while officials committed to better training for tour guides that visit the area and curbs on public transport into the area. The deal has not been renewed but both sides are due to meet in the coming days.
One resident fumed about tourists to news website ElDiario.es last month. She said: “They went into homes, they sat on chairs, they take things, climb on our walls, they have outdoor drinking parties. If this isn’t regulated, it will happen every summer.”
Residents began cracking down last year, asking tourists to visit only during certain hours. This month it was brought in for tourists to only visit between 11am and 8pm.
The request on the village’s website also asks tourists to refrain from “entering homes” and “climbing balconies”. The head of tourism for the Menorcan government, Begoña Mercadal, told Eldiario.es that the village was within its right to curtail visits. She said: “We fully acknowledge that it is private property and, therefore, if they want to close it, that is their right.”
However, Monge acknowledged that the closure would affect many families in the region whose hotels, bars and souvenir shops depend on local tourism. He described the closure as a last resort. He added: “From the coast you would still be able to visit the perimeter of the village, but you wouldn’t be able to enter the interior lanes. And that’s the charming photo that everyone wants for Instagram.”
It comes after residents of La Salut neighbourhood in Barcelona were successful in having a popular bus route removed from Google and Apple maps. For years, residents had complained that they could not get home because the number 116 bus was always crammed with tourists visiting Antoni Gaudí’s Park Güell. Now the city council has arranged to have the route removed.