Drunken Nights

There has been a thread over on Holiday Truths concerned with the legal age of drinking alcohol and specifically the suggestion that Majorca does not have a problem of a British nature with alcohol among the young, over or under-age. It's all a cultural difference, goes the argument.

It's true that there is a cultural difference, it is also true that the Majorcan young are not in the same league as their British counterparts when it comes to causing trouble or getting drunk, but it is a complete fallacy to suggest that a problem does not exist. In Palma the authorities are now starting a campaign of communicating with parents over the specific issue of the botellón - the street drinking party - that is the most obvious manifestation of youth drinking, and a growing social problem not only in Palma but in many towns across the island. These parties, usually on a Friday or Saturday night, involve cheap booze being brought to or sold at locations in different towns from where the youth will often go on to nightspots, having got tanked up on drink that would otherwise cost vastly more in clubs. In the case of some, those under 18, they wouldn't, or shouldn't be allowed into these venues anyway.

While the main consequences of the botellón are noise and mess, they have also contributed to occasionally serious incidents. The death of Gabriel Marquet in Alcúdia was partially attributed to the botellón by the Magic roundabout, while the authorities in Manacor moved swiftly to outlaw street drinking following an attack on a local citizen - again attributable to a botellón. The delegate for the Balearics to the central government, Ramón Socias, was moved to say that those who could not control themselves when with drink should not drink. It was a pretty pointless statement, but the fact that he was referring to self-control and drink at all gives the lie to the mythical notion of Majorcan youth all being well-behaved and having been brought up to treat alcohol with respect. 

Someone on that thread made the point that at fiestas, and especially the dance parties during fiestas, there is no trouble. It's a fair point, but it is not to say that there are never incidents. There is the further issue of drugs, one that affects the whole of the island. A parent in Puerto Pollensa once expressed to me her worries for her son as he entered his teens where the availability of drugs was concerned. The taking of drugs is as much of a problem in the small towns of Majorca as it is in Palma. 

One needs to be careful and not overstate the problem, but there is a lingering perception among those who merely come to Majorca for holidays that the island -its people and its youth - exists in some idyllic other world where social problems of other countries do not manifest themselves; that the youth sit around a café table and discuss music or art over a coffee and then go quietly home. It simply isn't true. One doesn't like to have to shatter people's illusions, but many, including some expats residing on the island, have a misguided impression as to life in Majorca. It is not the social paradise they would like to believe that it is.

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