There are certain challenges that come with visiting a new place far from home. Among them is not making a spectacle of yourself — like when a tourist visiting Verona, Italy, sat on a sculpture of a chair for a photo-op and severely damaged it. There’s a reason the residents of several European cities are staging protests against mass tourism; bad behavior from visitors can have unintended consequences.
That might help explain why the city of Porto, Portugal, is taking steps to restrict alcohol consumption. As Anya Meyerowitz reports at Condé Nast Traveler, the city’s government now prohibits the sale of alcohol from “supermarkets, convenience stores, wine cellars and souvenir shops” beginning at 9:00 p.m. and ending at 8:00 a.m.
The ban on alcohol sales from such establishments won’t apply to the entire city, but will cover the areas where most tourists congregate. The ban will be enforced in a “Containment Zone,” which includes most of downtown Porto. If you are looking for a glass of wine, a beer or a cocktail in the area, you’ll need to head to a bar, club or restaurant.
What to Know About the Anti-Tourism Protests in Europe
Last weekend, locals in European hotspots took to the streets to tell visitors to go home.Porto’s government isn’t the only one seeking the right balance between catering to tourists and avoiding too chaotic of a situation on its streets. Tourists visiting the Indian state of Gujarat must purchase a permit if they wish to buy bottled alcohol while there, for instance.
Other parts of the world have taken the opposite approach, loosening regulations around alcohol in the hopes of attracting more foreign visitors. Earlier this year, the government of Thailand announced that it planned to allow tourists to buy alcohol on Buddhist holidays, citing tourism as a motivating factor. Time will tell if Porto is able to strike the right balance between reverie and moderation.
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