German footballers have been filmed being beaten up by bouncers in Mallorca after reportedly refusing to quit smoking – as rowdy tourists from the country take over the island’s beach bars and clubs.
A group of 18 amateur footballers were reportedly forced to flee after two of them were caught smoking by security in a bar and disco on the coast of Palma.
The men were reportedly chased out of the bar and beaten by guards with clubs, with a witness telling Mallorca Zeitung: ‘Each of the 18 took at least one hit. Everyone’.
Shocking video shows bouncers appearing to punch a tourist in the face and men fleeing up the road away from the pub.
It comes as people working in the Balearic island’s tourism industry have this season criticized the hooliganism of German holidaymakers, with speculation that they are taking on the mantle of Britain’s biggest troublemakers.
Footage from the area, believed to have been filmed in June, shows black-clad guards standing over a man they appear to have knocked to the ground
While a man appears to be protesting his friend’s treatment, one of the bouncers punches the man hard in the face
Concerned onlookers filmed the altercation and an escalation of violence was reportedly not stopped until police showed up
German holidaymakers flock each summer to the infamous party hotspot of Ballermann – an area stretching along Playa de Palma and known for its clubs and bars
German holidaymakers flock to the notorious party hotspot of Ballermann each summer, where parties rage on the beach and in the clubs surrounding it, but now local businesses are warning that the ‘extreme’ party atmosphere has become worse than ever.
The stretch of the island, along Playa de Palma, is so named because ‘ballern’ is the German word for heavy drinking, while the area is officially called Balneario No. 6.
Footage from the area, believed to have been filmed in June, shows black-clad guards standing over a man they appear to have knocked to the ground.
There were claims that two of the 18 men, said to be a Black Forest football team, were told to stop smoking in a club, but then smoked more cigarettes.
While a man appears to be protesting his friend’s treatment, one of the bouncers lands a hard punch right in the man’s face.
One of the men, who is believed to have been among those caught smoking, reportedly suffered a ruptured eardrum and was taken to hospital, while the other was unharmed.
In one clip, a man who appears to be a bouncer points at people as they film the dramatic scenes
Angry bouncers appeared to be marching through the streets of Palma after the dramatic clashes with tourists
The German tourists looked like they were being herded through the streets by security after they were reportedly evicted from the pub
In another clip, a man who appears to be a bouncer angrily points at people as they film the dramatic scenes.
When the violence escalated, the group of men was led away by the security team via the Carrer des Canyes, Mallorca Zeitung reports.
Dramatic videos of people on the street and in their holiday apartments show the men being ‘driven like cattle’ from the pub.
An escalation of violence was reportedly only suppressed when police appeared, but it is believed no criminal complaint was filed.
It’s just one example of tension between holidaymakers and tourism workers in the city, with reports that a bouncer was arrested after pushing a German tourist to the ground.
With unsettling German youths flocking to the small village of Arenal this summer, locals are bracing for more standoffs.
German police officers are now being called up to assist the national police, with 12 expected to patrol the streets of Palma in the coming months.
Football fans wear the name of their German football club on their back as they parade along Mallorca’s beach
A group in red is drinking beer while standing next to the beach
Michael Bormann, owner of the Deutches Eck restaurant in Palma, told the newspaper that the ‘party spirit’ was ‘very extreme’ this year and that some German holidaymakers were behaving outrageously.
While Beatrice Ciccardini, owner of the Zur Krone restaurant, added that “it’s never been worse than this year.”
Alain Carbonell told the Mallorca Daily Bulletin that some tourists didn’t even bother to book hotel accommodation, adding: “They are all young, 18 to 20 years old, and they just come to get drunk.”
Spanish advertisers have recently been pictured in lederhosen, sporting the blue and white diamonds of the Bavarian Rauten flag, in an attempt to lure German tourists to the Oberbayern disco.
While British abroad are often understandably belittled for their antics on the beaches of Spanish islands, they’re not the only ones who sometimes relax a little too hard, as photos from this year’s holiday season have shown.
German visitors can literally be seen by the bucket, a trend that local shops have been happy to facilitate for at least a decade.