British tourists covered in blood after street brawl in Malia where two women fight 'over a man'
The strip in Malia (file pic)
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A pair of British women were spotted attacking each other in a busy tourist hotspot in an apparent row over a man.
The two tourists got into the fight in the middle of Malia, around 20 miles east of Crete's capital city, Heraklion.
The pair, who have not yet been identified, were spotted punching and kicking each other repeatedly. One woman in a white shirt and grey shorts was seen grabbing the other's hair, pulling it down and punching her with her free hand several times, all while a woman in a black top and shorts wildly flails her arms.
Later footage showed the woman in black's face covered in blood as she sat on the floor trying to recover, with bystanders filming the scene.
The strip in Malia (file pic)
PA
It comes as tourist's behaviour has been slammed by campaigners abroad. Activists protesting against the effects of mass tourism in Barcelona marched through the city centre chanting slogans such as "tourists go home".
Some surrounded restaurants and a small group of fewer than a dozen squirted at people they identified as foreign tourists with water guns.
Spain's Tourism Minister and former mayor of Barcelona told reporters that while the demonstrators' actions were reprehensible, the incident was exaggerated by the international media.
Barcelona's mayor announced last month that the city will bar apartment rentals to tourists by 2028, an unexpectedly drastic move as it seeks to rein in soaring housing costs and make the city liveable for residents. There are similar pressures in neighbouring Portugal where protesters are seeking a referendum in the capital Lisbon to curb short-term holiday rentals.
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The Malia Strip (File pic)
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Earlier this year Venice became the first city in the world to charge an entry fee for holidaymakers after it started charging day-trippers €5 (£4.30) if visiting the historical city centre.
Greece has already enforced a tourist tax during the high season, from March to October, with visitors expected to pay from €1 (£0.86) to €4 (£3.45) per night, depending on the booked accommodation.
In Benidorm, tourists are no longer allowed to go swimming at night or hang out on the beach from midnight till 7am. Anyone who breaks the rule, which applies to swimming or resting and playing on the beach, could get fined between £650 and £1,020.
Drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes on the beach is also prohibited. Anyone caught might have to pay fines of £650 and £1,700 respectively.
Meanwhile, hospitality workers in Tenerife are being forced to live in tents as the island’s tourism boom has pushed up property prices, making them unaffordable for many locals.
José, a 65-year-old kitchen assistant who works in a hotel, told The Telegraph: "Now anything with one or two bedrooms costs at least €900.
"I earn minimum wage, €1,100. If I have to pay that kind of rent, then we won’t be able to eat. Here we eat by cooking on gas."