It is called ‘Botellón’, a Spanish expression for social drinking in public areas, and it is being blamed for turning several car parks outside nightclubs and bars in the Algarve into ‘open-air dumps’.
A citizens’ movement called ‘Não Lixes’ has sounded the alarm, saying young people are drinking alcohol outside nightclubs and leaving bottles scattered on the ground.
Fernando Jorge, head of the association, told i newspaper: “I have visited several car parks, for example the one outside the Bliss nightclub in Vilamoura, and 80% of the cars parked had revellers drinking alcohol inside.
“I don’t have a problem with that, the issue is that they leave the bottles and their rubbish behind, scattered across the car park,” he complained.
Jorge explains that youngsters struggle to pay the prices charged to get into nightclubs, “around €25-€30”, which is why they buy alcohol at cheaper prices and drink before going inside.
And while the environmentalist agrees that more and larger rubbish bins are needed in these areas, it all comes down to people having the awareness to dispose of their rubbish appropriately.
“We should all be allowed to have fun, but we should not pollute the planet we live in,” he said.
michael.bruxo@algarveresident.com
