Screen grab of Hannah MacDonald, 19, on the Punta Ballena strip in Magaluf, Spain, as the town saw tough rules cracking down on drunkenness come into force. Photo: PA Video

Magaluf saw tough new rules cracking down on drunkenness come into force last week – but the resort still witnessed the debauched scenes that have made it infamous.

The measures include a ban on drinking alcohol on the street between 10pm and 8am and restrictions on the Mallorcan town’s notorious bar crawls.

They come after a teenager from Northern Ireland caused a furore last summer when she performed sex acts on 24 men on one of the crawls.

Some bars along the Punta Ballena strip – where most of the action takes place – had signs up with messages such as “No alcohol permitted in the street” and “Drink with moderation”.

But those messages seemed to fall on deaf ears, with plenty of holidaymakers spilling out of bars with drinks in their hands.

Scuffles broke out and half a dozen police cars intervened to control youths belting out football chants.

The attitude taken by many tourists was summed up by Hannah MacDonald, 19, a mental health nurse from Perth, Scotland.

She said: “We’re here for a reason, we’re not here to worry about drinking on the street, I do enough of that in Scotland.

“Fine me, do whatever you want, I’m going to get mortal on the street and I don’t care.”

Do whatever you want, I’m going to get mortal on the street and I don’t care

The new rules say bar crawls must be accompanied by a company rep and accredited security staff, and reps are also required to have first aid training.

All crawls now require at least seven days’ notice to be authorised and the number of participants is limited to 20 per crawl, with companies only permitted to run one per night.

Those running businesses in and around the strip complained about what they described as a “token gesture” from Calvia’s town hall to clean up the resort’s tawdy image.

Juan Pedro Leon, 56, an owner of the Office bar on the strip, who has been working in Magaluf for more than 30 years, said the new rules “could spell the end” for its tourist industry.

Mr Leon said: “What is the harm in letting people on to the street with drinks if they take them out in plastic cups? It’s still early in the season, but if the police do take a heavy-handed approach that is going to put people off coming here.

“That, in turn, could lead to the loss of up to 1,000 jobs for the local economy.”

Another bar owner, who asked not to be named, said he was in favour of the new rules but was highly sceptical that they would be enforced.

He said: “Nothing is going to change until we get rid of the ‘all included’ culture and bring in a different type of tourist.

“There are bars which are offering ‘all you can drink’ deals for €15 and the hotels do it too.

“They’re giving these kids rocket fuel at knocked-down prices, so it’s no surprise that there’s trouble.

“Right now it’s still quiet, but when you get 30,000 on the strip in the middle of the summer, how are they going to stop people bringing drinks out on to the street then?

“Do you really think the police are going to go in and snatch drinks away from people?”