Menorca resort set to hold referendum on banning UK tourists

A Menorca town dubbed ‘Spain’s Mykonos’ is set to hold a referendum on BANNING tourists after being "trapped" in homes by influencers. The European Union holiday hotspot will hold a referendum on banning tourists in the latest blow against holidaymakers.

195 homeowners of Binibeca Vell say they are tired of being "trapped" inside their own homes as selfie-seeking influencers take over their town. The fuming locals previously took to chaining up the 22 entrances into the town.

Resident Edoardo Gomez, 31, told The Telegraph : “There’ll be a person posing for a photo. And as soon as they’re done, another one steps forward.” Edoardo said: “The tourists touch everything. One of our neighbours has lots of plants in pots and the tourists move them so that they can get a better photo.

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"They sit in chairs on private verandas. They talk loudly and the noise reverberates because the village is very small and enclosed. They sit on steps and when the owner asks them to move, they refuse because they’re trying to get the perfect photo.”

The president of the Binibeca Vell Community of Property Owners, Oscar Monge, said visitors are welcome and that the new regulations are not intended to negatively impact anyone's ability to make a living.

He said: “We pay dearly for being the most popular tourist attraction in Menorca. Binibeca is promoted by the island administration and the tourism companies, but what benefit do we get out of it? We don’t have anything against tourism, but sometimes it feels like we’re living in Disneyland Paris.”

The island now attracts around 1.5 million tourists a year, almost double the number of a decade ago. “Menorca has started suffering from over-tourism in the last seven or eight years,” said Miquel Camps, from an environmental group called GOB – the Balearic Group for Ornithology and the Protection of the Environment.

“We need to have a discussion about what sort of model we want for the future. We don’t want the Ibiza model.”