Brits will face penalty charges of up to £3,375 for tourists who flout behaviour codes in the Algarve resort of Albufeira after city hall legislators approved the strict new rules
The Algarve holiday resort town of Albufeira, Portugal, has gone to war with badly-behaved Brit tourists by approving huge new fines.
Penalty charges of up to €4,000 (£3,375) for holidaymakers who flout a strict new good behaviour code were agreed on Friday by local councillors. British tourists were first warned about the new get-tough rules in February when Albufeira’s mayor Jose Carlos Rolo announced the ‘Code of Conduct’ plans and put proposals out to public consultation. This week the process took a giant leap forward as it emerged holidaymakers can be hit with the fines once they are published in an official state bulletin, expected to happen soon.
People who enter bars and other business premises with their tops off will face fines of up to €1,500 (£1,250) under the new rules, with the wearing of beachwear outside of allowed areas also being tackled. Spitting or urinating in the street will be punished with fines of between €150 (£125) and €750 (£630).
And badly-behaved tourists who end up naked in public, or get caught having or simulating sex, face fines of between €2,000 (£1,685) and €4,000 (£3,375). Bars and cafes who let customers in without the proper dress code will also be hit with financial penalties under the new rules.
Mayor Mr Rolo last night signalled his intent to try to take Albufeira upmarket and win back some of the families said to have been scared off by the reports of alcohol and drug-fuelled behaviour. He told local press “tourists who fall down drunk aren’t needed here at all” as he said he was seeking a three-pronged approach of “dissuasive measures”, marketing and meetings with British diplomats.
He also called on the central government to draft in more police. The mayor said: “We want security to be visible. Sending 10 police officers to stay at their station isn’t going to solve the problem.”
Only one of the 25 Albufeira councillors who voted opposed the new Code of Conduct, with critic Leonardo Paco claiming everything in it was already covered by national legislation. Other dissenters have cast doubt on the idea that police will end up going into bars and cafes to check whether tourists have their tops on.
Last summer a group of partying British tourists put on a shocking display of public nudity which led to locals questioning the type of visitor the town attracted. Footage of their drunken antics, showing them naked on their knees in a line on top of a bar counter, went viral as Mr Rolo called the display “deeply negative” and said he would call for police reinforcements.
Eight British holidaymakers were later identified by cops. The GNR police force is understood to have discovered who they were following an investigation. The jaw-dropping scenes happened at Route Caffe 66 on the Oura Strip, Albufeira’s equivalent of the infamous Punta Ballena party strip in Magaluf.
One of the revellers was seen slapping the bare backside of a pal who was part of the bizarre party train. It is not immediately clear what if any action has been taken against them following an investigation.