British Tourists Banned From Wearing Football Shirts In Majorca Resort

Restaurant owners in Majorca's Playa de Palma resort, often regarded as the island's partying hub, have imposed a ban on football shirts, glow in the dark hats and other items of clothing.

According to reports, many in the area are growing weary of so called 'drunken tourism', leading to calls for stricter dress codes across the board.

The decision by a group of resort owners to impose a dress code is set to inconvenience many British holiday makers who are planning trips to the Spanish island later this summer.

England supporters in Majorca (Image: PA)

Items on the clothing ban list include tank tops without straps, swimming trunks, swimsuits, any accessories purchased directly from street vendors [like glow in the dark hats] and the aforementioned football shirts, the Mirror reports.

A total of 11 restaurants are set to implement the new attire rules, all of which are associated with the Palma Beach brand.

Customers will reportedly be cross-referenced by QR codes upon their arrival at said restaurants, which will be able to check that the dress code is being adhered to.

However, despite the rules being put in place at the very beginning of this summer, many business leaders in the region are already questioning just how effective the ban will be on combating rowdy, drunken behaviour.

Temperatures have soared across Europe this month, with parts of Spain reaching a scorching 40ºC, leading many to question why anyone would willingly arrive at resort restaurants in button up shirts and trousers.

Playa de Palma is a popular beach resort in Majorca (Image: PA)

According to Juanmi Ferrer, CEO of Palma Beach, drunken behaviour from holiday makers has gotten worse in recent years – leading to radical action being taken by restaurant owners.

"The situation on public roads is worse now than in 2017, 2018 and 2019. We already consider the season lost in terms of incivility control," he recently said.

"We need support from the authorities because neither the businesses nor the residents can stop it."

However, Ferrer adds that the measure isn't a hostile one against British tourists, but is instead being done to try and 're-educate' people through 'friendly ways of communicating'.

To this end, he maintains that there will be some flexibility during the day in regard to certain clothing items, even if the 'no tolerance' policy remains in place at night.

Thousands of Brits head to Majorca every year, with tourism vital to the island's economy.

British tourists in Majorca (Image: PA)

Regarding drunken disorder at the resort, concerned hotel guests told Spanish newspaper Diario de MaJorca that the police weren't able to stop street parties or 'large groups of tourists who only seek to get drunk on public roads, on the front line or even on the beach'.

Pedro Marín, manager of Palm Beach, added that such tourists usually book very little in advance, stay three or four nights and spend around 30 or 40 euros a day: "Generally on alcohol and cans of beer that they consume drinking on the street.

"They arrive at the hotels in the morning and can't even walk, they are completely drunk and even their companions leave them alone, lying on the sidewalk."

Words by Tom Fenton.