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TOURISM

How boozy boat parties are threatening Costa Brava’s picturesque coves

Once upon a time it was pirates and smugglers striking terror in the hearts of locals as they sought refuge in the quiet coves of the Costa Brava.

Published: 19 August 2019 12:41 CEST
How boozy boat parties are threatening Costa Brava's picturesque coves
Encologists have called for action against the organisers of parties like this. Photo: MarionaRoca1/Twitter

But these days its pleasure boats full of bikini-clad revellers pumping out tunes in illegal nightlong “botellones” convened over social media.

Environmentalists have raised concerns about the impact on fragile marine ecosystems in coves along the Costa Brava after a spate of riotous parties.

One video, recorded on July 13 shows some 40 boats moored alongside one another in Cala d'en Massoni, while another was recorded in nearby La Bañera de la Rusa in early August, both protected nature areas around Cap Roig, in Catalonia’s Girona province.

The ecological organisation Salvem el Golfet, which campaigns to protect the coast of Girona province, demanded that action be taken against the organisers  because of the serious environmental impact they pose in an area awarded protection under the Red Natura 2000 scheme.

Police in Lloret de Mar swooped on revellers at another party in a cove outside Lloret de Mar just before dawn on Sunday, identifying five organisers who now face fines of up to €100,000.

Ecologists fear the unlicensed parties, which use Instagram, twitter and facebook to alert partygoers of the location, are becoming “the latest thing” and that the boats could damage the ocean floor when they drop anchor as well as the detritus left behind by so many people.

“Such parties may be fashionable in places like Ibiza” said Margarita Riera, head of Salvem el Golfet. “But we cannot allow it to become a thing here.”

The coves should be for everyone to enjoy but in a responsible way, she insisted.  “If someone wants to go an enjoy a swim in the cove, that’s fine but we don’t want dozens of boats full of people mooring together at the same time.”  

Last week the provincial government in Girona said they would install buoys to block the entrance into the coves in a bid to clamp down on such parties.

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TRAVEL NEWS

Why are fewer British tourists visiting Spain this year?

Almost 800,000 fewer UK holidaymakers have visited Spain in 2023 when compared to 2019. What’s behind this big drop?

Published: 23 August 2023 11:36 CEST
Updated: 26 August 2023 18:32 CEST
Why are fewer British tourists visiting Spain this year?

Spain welcomed 12.2 million UK tourists between January and July 2023, 6 percent less when compared to the same period in 2019, according to data released on Monday by Spanish tourism association Turespaña.

This represents a decrease of 793,260 British holidaymakers for Spain so far this year.

Conversely, the number of Italian (+8 percent), Irish (+15.3 percent), Portuguese (+24.8 percent), Dutch (+4 percent) and French tourists (+5 percent) visiting España in 2023 are all above the rates in 2019, the last pre-pandemic year. 

German holidaymakers are together with their British counterparts the two main nationalities showing less interest in coming to Spanish shores.

Britons still represent the biggest tourist group that comes to Spain, but it’s undergoing a slump, with another recent study by Caixabank Research suggesting numbers fell particularly in June 2023 (-12.5 percent of the usual rate). 

READ ALSO: Spain fully booked for summer despite most expensive holiday prices ever

So are some Britons falling out of love with Spain? Are there clear reasons why a holiday on the Spanish coast is on fewer British holiday itineraries?

According to Caixabank Research’s report, the main reasons are “the poor macroeconomic performance of the United Kingdom, the sharp rise in rates and the weakness of the pound”.

This is evidenced in the results of a survey by British market research company Savanta, which found that one in six Britons are not going on a summer holiday this year due to the UK’s cost-of-living crisis.

Practically everything, everywhere has become more expensive, and that includes holidays in Spain: hotel stays are up 44 percent, eating out is 13 percent pricier, and flights are 40 percent more on average. 

READ ALSO: How much more expensive is it to holiday in Spain this summer?

Caixabank stressed that another reason for the drop in British holidaymakers heading to Spain is that those who can afford a holiday abroad are choosing “more competitive markets” such as Turkey, Greece and Portugal. 

And there’s no doubt that the insufferably hot summer that Spain is having, with four heatwaves so far, has also dissuaded many holidaymakers from Blighty from overcooking in the Spanish sun. 

With headlines such as “This area of Spain could become too hot for tourists” or “tourists say it’s too hot to see any sights” featuring in the UK press, budding British holidaymakers are all too aware of the suffocating weather conditions Spain and other Mediterranean countries are enduring. 

Other UK outlets have urged travellers to try out the cooler Spanish north rather than the usual piping hot Costa Blanca and Costa del Sol destinations.

Another UK poll by InsureandGo found that 71 percent of the 2,000+ British respondents thought that parts of Europe such as Spain, Greece and Turkey will be too hot to visit over summer by 2027.

There’s further concern that the introduction in 2024 of the new (and delayed) ETIAS visa for non-EU visitors, which of course now also applies to UK nationals, could further compel British tourists to choose countries to holiday in rather than Spain.

READ MORE: Will British tourists need to pay for a visa waiver to enter Spain?

However, a drop in the number of British holidaymakers may not be all that bad for Spain, even though they did spend over €17 billion on their Spanish vacations in 2022. 

Towns, cities and islands across the country have been grappling with the problem of overtourism and the consequences it has on everything from quality of life for locals to rent prices. 

READ ALSO: ‘Beach closed’ – Fake signs put up in Spain’s Mallorca to dissuade tourists

The overcrowded nature of Spain’s beaches and most beautiful holiday hotspots appears to be one of the reasons why Germans are visiting Spain in far fewer numbers. A recent report in the country’s most read magazine Stern asked “if the dream is over” in their beloved Mallorca.

Spanish authorities are also seeking to overhaul the cheaper holiday package-driven model that dominates many resorts, which includes moving away from the boozy antics of young British and other European revellers.

Fewer tourists who spend more are what Spain is theoretically now looking for, and the rise in American, Japanese and European tourists other than Brits signify less of a dependence on the British market, one which tends to maintain the country’s tourism status quo for better or for worse.

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