Fury in Spain as tourists treated as animals' by a new law | World

The sizes of tourist groups will be smaller under a new law that has angry tourist guides in Palma.

Tourist guides say that the new rule is unreasonable and that they feel treated as criminals – and tourists and animals.

Proggues Turístics de Baleare claims that the Palma municipal council plan to limit guided tours around 20 people per group is facing the regulations of the Balearic Islands, which allow groups of 70.

“The current average size of the group is between 30 and 50 people,” said President Gabriel Rosales.

“It is confusing that the Council did not take into account the existing regulations before progressing with this.”

Rosales is also concerned about how the police will monitor the number of people in a group of tourists, because people sometimes join “on the fly”.

Lifting concerns about what people will do in the circumstances, he said: “Are we going to label them like animals? Or distribute batons to prevent” unauthorized “tourists?”

The new rule will mean that the tourism sector could encounter difficulties following the change, reports The Olive Press.

The torture of groups of only 19 people will make it difficult to sell visits because it will be financially unbearable, added Rosals.

But this will not be the only impact it will have on the region.

Popular attractions could see a drop in visitors, which means that they will make much smaller income.

Tourist guides will also be invited to display the ID as part of a new requirement.

“It violates our rights to privacy and confronting data protection laws,” said Rosales.

“Why should we reveal all this information when a police officer only needs to show a badge number? It is as if we were treated as criminals. “”

The proposed rule is currently in a period of public comments before going to the full council for a final vote.

This occurs after Spain experienced a massive drop in the number of tourists due to hot -fried vacation points.

The figures show that the number of national tourists has dropped in the first seven months of 2024, compared to the same period a year earlier.

The number of national tourists increased from 41.37 million between January and July in 2023 to 40.98 million in 2024 for the same period, according to the Spanish daily El Pais.

Partly to blame, the rise in prices in Spain, driven by the demand of foreign visitors, as well as by overcrowding in popular destinations by tourists from abroad.

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