Leafy Menorca village fights back as it REJECTS tourism ban in referendum

Locals have complained that the rowdy and intrusive tourists overrun the fishing village during the warm summer months, ruining residents’ sense of peace and privacy.

They 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, following a referendum on Friday night, the majority of the close to 200 residents have opted to slightly extend the hours in which holidaymakers are allowed to visit.

Over two-thirds of locals voted in favour of allowing the tourists to continue to visit, whilst the rest wanted a blanket ban.

Tourists are now allowed access to the island for 12 hours between 10am and 10pm.

Oscar Monge, President of the Community of Property Owners, said on Saturday: “Around 30 per cent of the owners wanted to close permanently to tourists but the civic behaviour of visitors helped persuade people that the current partial closure is sufficient.”

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The move will likely be welcomed by business owners, who rely on tourists for their livelihoods. Ahead of the vote, some voiced their concern to The Telegraph that banning holidaymakers from the village would create “big problems for us”.

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.”

However, not all locals will be pleased with the news. Residents often moaned that tourists ruined the area, often climbing on buildings and sometimes even stealing possessions from their homes.

One told the news website ElDiario.es: “[Tourists] 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.”

Local Edoardo Gomez, 31, said: “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.”