When summer comes, clubbing tourism increases potentially and, with it, crowds. After the accident that took place in Madrid Arena in 2012, the legislation regarding crowd control has improved and Sant Josep de Sa Talaia has decided to take action.


Ibiza is an international reference in the nightlife scene and, with sun and beach tourism, it’s one of the economic drivers of the island. According to Balear Islands Tourism’s 2016 annual, the companies in the sector billed 400 million Euros and employed around 8.000 people in 2016.


Sant Josep de Sa Talaia is the epicentre of Pitiusas’ leisure and registered a daily average price of 188,6€ in August 2017, much higher than the 126,7€ rate of the whole Balear Islands. Nevertheless, those economic advantages create wide discrepancies among the island residents, due to the fact that clubbing tourism causes discomforts such as noise, illegal parties and drug abuse.


As it is a controversial activity, the Balear authorities have started regulating the sector taking advantage of new technologies. In March 17th 2017, the council in Sant Josep de Sa Talaia approved a municipal ordinance for occupancy limits and control systems. It obligates leisure venues to install an automated people counter in their leisure activities when their maximum allowed occupancy is over 200 people. This will be the first summer the regulation applies and the council wants to reduce occupancy overflows that usually happen in Ibiza due to the high demand of clubbing tourism.


Other autonomous communities are taking steps in their regulation, such as Catalonia, Aragon, Basque Country and Canary Islands. Valencia already has its Decree 145/2015, from September 11th which obliges public spectacles to use an automatic people counter in their infrastructures when their maximum allowed occupancy is over 2.000 people.


Even if it isn’t a legal obligation, it’s always recommended to control occupancy because it identifies overcrowded zones, monitors the flow of people and sets real-time alarms. It’s important to do it with an automatic people counter with an accuracy higher than 98% in order to avoid risks when nearing the maximum occupancy.


Besides its obvious security purpose, having automatic people counters also allows to understand users’ behaviour, so entertainment venues can benefit from the information to improve their queue management, employee planning and resource optimisation. Finally, we conclude that installing that system provides the company valuable information to improve their business efficiency and strategic decision making.