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Catalonia accepts civilized tourists only.
Authorities in Catalonia alarmed that Barcelona's architectural landmarks and Costa Brava resorts are gaining an unsavory reputation as "booze and babes" playgrounds, are planning a summer crackdown on rowdy visitors from northern Europe. Barcelona, long a magnet for Europeans for its beauty, its cuisine and its free-and-easy Mediterranean lifestyle, has become a favorite destination for hard-drinking stag and hen-night crowds and college graduation parties. Last summer German, British and Dutch tourists invaded Catalonia's beach resorts and handsome urban squares, and outraged locals with their noisy, all-night partying, sexual promiscuity and uncontrolled vomiting in Gothic passageways and Art Nouveau doorsteps. The authorities, which have long encouraged down-market mass tourism with low prices and a tolerant attitude, have finally had enough. The Barcelona town hall, and the Catalan regional government, have drawn up a battery of measures to stamp out anti-social - what they call "uncivil" - behavior. Given the clattering air conditioning of hotel rooms, local residents complained they couldn't sleep without double-glazing; and that their streets were filthy with rubbish and body fluids. Doctors found the cost of treating youngsters who fell into comas after three-day drinking binges far outstripped the sums they spent during their visits. First targets are the countless unofficial websites for cheap Catalan resorts that promise booze, wild street parties, "cool chicks, beach frolics and fun", to those who get themselves on a flight from.
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