It's not Ceuta, it's Benidorm: the cost of binge-drinking tourism

It's not Ceuta, it's Benidorm: who pays for the party

A car parked in Benidorm's English zone wakes up with a shattered windscreen. On the glass, a sticker that many read as GB. This scene, with its variations, repeats every high season, and this time it has gained traction under a slogan that summarizes the frustration: «No es Ceuta, es Benidorm» (It's not Ceuta, it's Benidorm). The episode has peine the discussion about the true cost of binge-drinking tourism and who bears the bill for the damages.

Who pays for the damage: mandatory insurance for tour operators

The most viable proposal is to require tour operators to take out civil liability insurance for every traveler embarking on their packages. The logic of this proposal is that if the organizer is responsible for damages, they will subsequently claim against the client who caused the trouble, and the package will stop being so cheap. Some argue that the problem is not the individual tourist but a model competing based on ridiculously low prices and unlimited alcohol.

Opposing this is the argument that civil liability is already enforceable against those who cause damage, with or without insurance, and that placing the cost on the organizer would drive up prices in a sector where thousands of families depend.

Police, private security and the comparison that nobody addresses

The second line of defense is the institutional response. It is argued that in Benidorm, police deployment reacts quickly to incidents involving British tourists, and that local private security does much of the work before the patrol arrives. In contrast, the comparison with other borders is attributed to a climate of tolerance that, according to this view, has been going on for five decades.

The only figure repeated when discussing this tourism is those 50 years of open tolerance. What it truly costs, no one has put in writing.