The region is making bars close at 12.30am on weekdays and 1am on Friday, Saturdays and on the eve of national holidays.
The region is making bars close at 12.30am on weekdays and 1am on Friday, Saturdays and on the eve of national holidays.
A Spanish holiday hotspot has introduced a strict bar curfew to stamp out noisy drinkers – with millions of UK tourists warned. Alicante, a go-to for British holidaymakers flying to the European Union, face a strict 12.30am curfew.
The region is making bars close at 12.30am on weekdays and 1am on Friday, Saturdays and on the eve of national holidays. Nightclubs will be required to close their doors at 1am during weekdays and 3am on the weekend.
Terrace areas are set to be cut by half, while those that are permitted to stay open will be cleared 30 minutes ahead of closing time. Under the shake-up, new applications for terrace spots are also being halted, as are new licences for nightclubs, bars, restaurants, cafes, karaoke bars and even bingo halls.
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The curfew applies to two areas of Alicante City designated as Acoustically Saturated Zones (ZAS) including the Old Town and the area around Calle Castaños. Police could disperve revellers who flout the rules.
Officers were patrol to ensure closing times are observed, it has also been warned. One social media user fumed: “It’s a shame locals have to suffer a blanket rule because of alcie (mostly) brits making a racket.
“I assume they’ve already tried zero tolerance on drunkeness or is that harder to police?” A second said: “OK lets all just stop visiting Spain and its islands and watch the local economies dive! Bars and restaurants will close with hundreds of jobs lost.
“There are much nicer places in the world to visit than Alicante anyway. Adios Amigo!”
“LOL they will be moaning soon they are not making money because they have to shut early,” a second social media user posted.
And another wrote: “To be honest the way some Brits behave on holiday in Spain I’m surprised that this has not happened before. Imagine if this was in Brighton, Skegness or Blackpool with foreign holiday makers drunk, fighting and throwing up in the streets night after night.”
“Me and my chums are usually 3/4 full of John Smith’s by 10pm so this won’t affect us. Another hour of watching Mr Bean or Fawlty Towers and were off for chips,” another sarcastically wrote.
Spain saw a boom of 94million international tourists last year – the highest number since records began.
But the destination has been plagued by anti-tourism protests.