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Salou News.
LATEST NEWS FROM SALOU
30th August 2010
IF YOUR idea of a good holiday is going overseas and partying until it's time to get on the plane again, choose your location carefully.
Many overseas destinations are cracking down on hard-partying, bawdy behaviour and cultural offences, saying inconsiderate tourists are ruining their image and making life hell for locals and other visitors.
Spain has been at the forefront of the image clean-up, with popular resort areas announcing crackdowns on "antisocial behaviour" such as drinking alcohol on the streets or having sex on the beach.
Various parts of Spain are also cracking down on tourists wandering around shirtless, or in bikinis, away from the beach.
Some areas, including Barcelona, are simply putting up signs or trying to educate tourists about what is considered acceptable. However, the Catalonian resort town of Salou last month announced hefty fines for antisocial behaviour, including being shirtless or wearing swimwear when away from the beach.
Salou says its reputation is being ruined by drunken and half-naked tourists. Fines range from €100 ($144) to €300.
18th August 2010
A WELSH mother has been given a six-month suspended jail sentence by a Spanish court for abandoning her 11-year-old daughter alone on a beach while she got drunk. Alicia Bernadette Jenkins from Builth Wells, Powys, spent Sunday afternoon drinking at a bar in the resort town of Salou, on the Costa Dorada, while her daughter was left to roam a nearby beach.
The 42-year-old has yet to be reunited with her daughter following her sentencing on Tuesday afternoon. The girl is under-stood to be in the care of Spanish social services.The British consular office in Spain and representatives from travel agents Thomas Cook were last night helping Jenkins with support and advice. Police in Spain said she had been drinking for at least two hours before a British couple eventually spotted the Welsh schoolgirl playing with their own daughter. But when they found her mum drinking in a local bar, Jenkins, described by police as "very drunk", refused to look after her child and reportedly told the couple to "**** off and leave me alone". Shocked by her reaction, the couple returned to the busy stretch of beach and waited for Jenkins to collect her young daughter. When she did not appear they took the girl back to the three-star California Gardens Hotel where the pair had been staying. Horrified hotel staff then telephoned the Catalan police force, the Mossos d'Esquadra, and officers detained Ms Jenkins at the bar.
A spokesman for Mossos d'Esquadra said: "The girl was helped by a concerned British couple on the beach, but when they went to the bar to find the mother she started swearing at them and being abusive. "She was very drunk. They took the girl back to the beach and when the woman did not turn up some time later they took her to the hotel where the girl and her mother were staying. "Hotel staff called the police and our officers went to the bar where the woman was detained. By that stage the girl had been out of her care for most of the afternoon. "She was taken to a children's care home to be looked after." Jenkins appeared in a court in Tarragona on Tuesday afternoon where she accepted a charge of temporarily abandoning her daughter.
The court was told Jenkins had no previous convictions in Spain. She received a prison sentence of six months, suspended for two years. Jenkins and her daughter, who has not been named, arrived in Salou, a popular party resort, last Friday for a 10-night package holiday. A receptionist at California Gardens Hotel last night told the Western Mail that the Welsh mum was still staying at the hotel and was due to check out on Monday. A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are aware of the arrest of a British national in Salou, Spain, on the 15th of August 2010. We have offered consular assistance."
A spokesman for Thomas Cook added: "We can confirm that we're working with the British Consulate to provide support and assistance to a family involved in an incident in Salou." Under Spanish law, parents who abandon their children face jail sentences of 18 months to three years. A 10-night stay at the family friendly California Gardens Hotel costs from £390 a person and features a play area for children as well as a hotel-run mini club.