'Enjoy and respect'
New campaign to fight unsocial behaviour among tourists
THE slogan that has been chosen to turn things around has caused some bemusement to both holidaymakers and locals.
Aimed at turning the tide on anti-social behaviour, the rowdy and reckless antics of stag groups in particular have made the national British press on numerous occasions. But politicians, business owners and residents are now attempting to curb this unacceptable conduct, which will certainly be a challenge.
A number of bars along the Levante beachfront have put up banners and posters with the header “Enjoy & Respect” accompanied by tag lines – “Please be considerate and respectful to the rest of the people; Please do not dress in offensive clothing, this is a place for families as well; Please use the bins and recycling containers”.
We spoke to one bar and they told us police came in and gave them a warning after a drunk naked man was parading on the front outside their bar – although he wasn’t their customer.
This prompted the manager to put up a chalkboard, asking customers to be respectful, then together with other bars, created the current posters and banners.
Initially done in red to stand out, they were asked by the Town Hall to make them blue – some may cynically say, as it is the colour of the current ruling Partido Popular party!
The Ciudadanos (C's) party has been very vocal, demanding that urgent action must be taken and at the beginning of this week, said talks must take place before the start of the busy season.
Rafa Gasent, Councillor and spokesperson of Cs spoke exclusively to CBN, saying that the initiative was totally the bar owners doing and nothing to do with the Town Hall.
However, they are fully be- hind it and supportive of their resourcefulness to tackle the issue and full credit must be given to them.
He also told CBN that the town hall are trying to set up a meeting of bar owners but many have personally been contacting him to ask what they can do to start the ball rolling, perhaps sceptical that a meeting will actually ever take place.
A number of other Spanish resorts, including Magaluf, Ibiza, Marbella and Mojácar have already introduced bylaws, punishable with hefty fines for those that exhibit lewd anti-social behaviour.
However, many visitors especially families are put off returning by the sleazy image that Benidorm is attracting, with live sex show blatantly advertised in front of bars with the images of popular children’s cartoons such as Mickey Mouse and Star Wars characters Darth Vader and Princess Leia!
Yesterday (Thursday), Toni Perez – mayor of Benidorm, Lorenzo Martinez - councillor for Security and Sarah-Jane Morris – British Consul met with police officials and representatives from the tourism sector, including Karen MalingCowles and David Garcia Cook of Benidorm’s British Business Association to discuss a number of issues in the resort including security and antisocial behaviour, in the main, exhibited by British nationals.