Catalunya's leading beach towns kick off over 'noisy drunken northern European tourists'
Monday, August 25, 2014 @ 8:43 PM
RESIDENTS in popular Catalunya seaside towns have staged a series of protests over 'drunken tourism'.
They complain that foreign holidaymakers have been seen walking stark naked through the La Barceloneta district of Barcelona, and noise, vandalism, fights and other anti-social behaviour is rife every summer in Lloret de Mar (Girona province), Salou (Tarragona province) and Calella (Barcelona province).
People living in these areas complain authorities and traders do their best to attract youths away from home for the first time who, armed with new-found freedom and alcohol prices considerably lower than in their home countries, cause havoc for those who have to live there year-round.
Townspeople insist it is the northern Europeans who create the most trouble, and that it is not uncommon to see people urinating or even defecating in the street or collapsing completely unconscious after drinking too much.
Cheap self-catering apartments and low-cost airlines mean many of Catalunya's coastal resort towns are well within the budget of 20-somethings who are having to watch their cash.
And although authorities and traders say the anti-social behaviour of these holidaymakers is a small price to pay for making enough money to survive through the whole of the winter, travel agencies and those who live near touristy areas say it simply has to stop.
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