How Binibeca Vell Is Fighting Back Against Overtourism’s Overwhelm
The beautiful town of Binibeca Vell on Menorca, regularly alluded to as “the Spanish Mykonos,” is hooking with the impacts of overtourism. Each year, about 800,000 visitors surge into this little, whitewashed town, eminent for its interesting back roads and shimmering turquoise waters, arranged in Spain’s Mediterranean Balearic Islands.
The town, domestic to fair 200 inhabitants, is battling beneath the weight of this deluge. “That’s a part,” commented Oscar Monge, who leads a neighborhood residents’ affiliation. Numerous local people, like Monge, long for a calmer environment and discover the steady swarms overpowering. The behavior of a few sightseers, who every so often attack the security of inhabitants by climbing dividers and entering homes uninvited, compounds the dissatisfaction.
In an exertion to moderate these issues, inhabitants have as of late forced limitations, permitting sightseers to visit as it were between 11:
00 am and 8:
00 pm. On Admirable 15, they will vote on whether to boycott guests totally. This potential boycott has started a talk among the villagers. A few stress that a total closure might hurt neighborhood businesses and are supporting for a more adjusted approach.
The problem of overtourism isn’t special to Binibeca Vell. Final year, the Balearic Islands experienced a record 17.8 million guests, and this number is anticipated to proceed to rise. There’s a developing recognition of the ought to consider the “negative social effect” of tourism and to discover an adjustment that permits tourism to coexist with the everyday lives of inhabitants.
In response to the growing local discontent, several measures have been implemented across the Balearic Islands. In some towns in Mallorca and Ibiza, restrictions have been placed on alcohol sales after 9:30 p.m., and street drinking has been banned. Additionally, the mayor of Palma in Mallorca is planning to ban new tourist accommodations and limit cruise ship arrivals. Ibiza, too, is tightening rules for party boats.
The situation is so pressing that at the end of May, millions of residents from Mallorca, Menorca, and Ibiza took to the streets to protest against overtourism. They rallied under the slogan: “Our islands are not for sale,” citing concerns about noise, traffic congestion, pollution, and rising house prices due to the conversion of apartments into tourist accommodations.
To address these issues, the regional government has established a committee of experts to develop a “roadmap” for sustainable tourism. Balancing the economic benefits of tourism, which accounts for 45 percent of the region’s income, with the need to preserve residents’ quality of life is a significant challenge. However, both lawmakers and locals agree that some restrictions are necessary to maintain a livable environment.
As the residents of Binibeca Vell prepare to vote on the future of tourism in their village, the outcome will likely influence broader discussions on managing over-tourism across the Balearic Islands. The village’s decision could set a precedent for how other tourist-heavy areas in the region address similar challenges.
The advancements in Binibeca Vell are portion of a bigger story unfurling over the Balearic Islands, where finding a maintainable approach to tourism is getting to be progressively pivotal. This story reflects broader worldwide concerns around the impacts of tourism on neighborhood communities and the environment. The measures taken in Binibeca Vell and other parts of the Balearic Islands seem to serve as a show for other traveller goals confronting comparative challenges, emphasizing the requirement for an adjustment between the financial interface and the well-being of neighborhood inhabitants.
As reported by Times Travel in their recent article
