Binibeca Vell, on the small island of Menorca, is a travel destination famous for its picturesque Instagram-friendly white buildings and crystalline waters.
However, Spanish locals are increasingly fed up with the number of “rude” tourists visiting their community in the Balearic archipelago.
Binibeca is a small private community that is home to just 200 residents and welcomes over 800,000 tourists a year. Hundreds of thousands flock there for the narrow streets and whitewashed villas. There are fears that the number of visitors next summer could be close to a million.
Towards the end of this summer, locals came up with a unique way to battle overtourism. They agreed on specific visiting hours to help regulate the flow of tourists. From now on, tourists are unable to visit Binibeca from 10pm to 10am, giving locals 12 hours of respite from the crowds.
Speaking to France 24, Jose Garcia, a 35-year-old resident who is on the community council, said that the community had acted after the number of tourists had crossed a line.
He said: “We get about 800,000 tourists every year. And for a town this small, that’s a lot of people. The streets are very small. They’re very narrow. At the end of the day, this is not a village, it’s a private community and we have to consider that.
“So we decided we’re closing the village from 10pm until 10am so that people at least can relax during the evening. And you don’t get people visiting at night, waking up everybody around.”
Mr Garcia said it was “a lie” that the community was closed to tourists completely.
He explained: “Here in Binibeca, we don’t mind tourists, the only thing we ask is for them to be respectful to others.
“People don’t use common sense when they are visiting here. They think they are on vacation and are free to do whatever they want. That is the kind of tourism we don’t like.”
The Spaniard told France 24 that the day before, he caught a tourist trespassing on his cousin’s property. He also criticised tourists for sitting on people’s doorsteps for photos.
He added that locals were sick of fashion brands exploiting the community, with many people’s homes appearing in the backdrop of well-known fashion ads without their knowledge.
The disproportionate ratio of locals to tourists is replicated across the Balearic Islands, which welcomes 18 million tourists a year – while having a population of just 1.2 million inhabitants.