It’s that time of year: Spring break has arrived for millions of college students, many of whom have once again flocked to sunny South Florida for a few class-free days. Miami Beach, however, wasn’t exactly thrilled.
These include strict curfews, drink-driving checkpoints and security checks, as well as a general resumption of police force measures the city announced to thwart the potential ruckus. Additionally, officials have implemented severe parking restrictions and fees, for non-residents only, to discourage the influx of visitors.
In fact, the city of Miami Beach released a video declaring a definitive break with the partying holidaymakers. Referencing past illegal incidents involving out-of-towners, the video claims that residents simply want to relax on the beach and try new restaurants, while visitors “just want to get drunk in public and ignore the laws.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has declared a strict statewide crackdown in popular spots stretching as far away as Daytona Beach and Panama City Beach, presumably to ensure the safety of residents and visitors.
“Florida does not tolerate lawlessness and chaos,” DeSantis said in a Press release earlier this month. “I am directing state law enforcement to provide additional personnel and resources to local governments to ensure they have the resources needed to maintain the peace during spring break.”
The Sunshine State has a long history history to try to quell spring break. After all, it was Fort Lauderdale’s crackdown on tourists in 1985 that pushed visitors further south to Miami.
The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced similar restrictions nationwide. But in Miami Beach, officials have now, in some ways, embraced the idea in advance implementing rules in an attempt to manipulate tourist behavior. The approach comes after the city suffered “deadly shootings and unruly crowds” in 2023, second to the Associated Press, ultimately pushing the government to do so problem a state of emergency.
While the crowd so far this year has decreased comparatively, many of these restrictions, especially rules against drinking in public, are clearly not be applied consistently. Furthermore, tand initiatives to reduce crime and prevent lawlessness have also reached the expenses of the many small businesses that thrive thanks to Miami Beach’s status as a tourism hot spot.
They resorted to many shops and outdoor cafes close during rush hour due to road closures. According to relationship from NBCBlocking sidewalk parking discouraged customers from stopping, radically decreasing revenue during a key business season.
AS Reason‘S Alyssa Varas-Martinez he wrote in 2022, following that year’s state of emergency, most of Miami Beach’s small businesses rely substantially on tourists, many of whom will naturally look for on-water alternatives where curfews and restrictions don’t apply.
But placing blame solely on students and tourists for illegal behavior doesn’t tell the whole story. “Most of the people who come here and get arrested are actually South Florida residents who don’t spring break but want to be close to the party,” She said Michael Góngora, former commissioner of Miami Beach, “and unfortunately they are the ones who bring weapons and drugs and create chaos in the city.”
Varas-Martinez’s article expresses a similar sentiment: “Crime and disorder can be expected to arise when thousands of vacationers, locals, and college students are crammed onto a small island,” he wrote, “and many large cities face similar problems without problems”. declare a local state of emergency.”
While not a state of emergency, the 2024 restrictions are, in some ways, the most severe measures yet. Yet any attempt to reshape Miami Beach’s image — away from the college party scene toward a more family-friendly atmosphere — ignores the basic reality that much of the city’s economy comes from the very tourists it wants to repel. 2022-23, visitors to the general Miami and Miami Beach area contributed $20.2 billion to the local economy.
It remains to be seen whether the government will succeed in renaming Miami Beach. But if that happens, it will come at the direct expense of local small business owners, who depend on this holiday season for their livelihood.