Angry locals at a tourism hotspot have taken to chaining up the streets in an effort to stop ruining the neighbourhood. The 195 people who live in Binibeca Vell in Menorca are now chaining off the narrow cobbled alleyways between their beautiful white-washed homes, which have been dubbed the “Mykonos of ”. The homeowners say they do not want any visitors before 11am or after 8pm and so have chained off the alleys and hung anti-tourists signs to deter some of the 800,000 tourists a year who visit the area.
Over eager tourists have been known to scale balconies, enter people’s homes and climb stairs in an effort to get the perfect summer snap of the whitewashed alleys. The president of the residents association Óscar Monge, said the Government is neglecting those who live in the sunny Spanish town. “Binibeca is promoted by the administration and tourism companies, but what benefit do we get out of it?” he asked.
Óscar said the town pays dearly for being so popular and the Government’s annual budget of €25,000 (£21,255.98) to touch up their paintwork is not enough. “What I would like to make clear above all is that tourists are not the problem, it is the lack of regulation and respect for the agreements signed with the council,” he told news site “It is amazing that politicians who are dedicated to tourism are telling us, the owners of a private urbanisation for public use, that the only alternative we have left to keep the place clean is to close it and.