Ibiza 'boycotts' Wayne Lineker: Growing backlash against Gary's nightclub lothario brother after booze-fuelled 4am brawl - with locals branding him a 'buffoon' and accusing him of 'destroying' the Spanish island

He was knocked unconscious last week by a thug who punched him on a night out.

Now Wayne Lineker has become the target of an angry backlash on the Spanish island of Ibiza.

It seems locals have grown tired of the nightlife entrepreneur who cashed in on his family's famous name to generate a multi-million pound fortune after setting up an empire of high profile party venues.

There was little sympathy for Wayne, 62, when he was floored in a street attack which reportedly left him lying unconscious for six minutes last week.

Instead, the nightclub lothario was subjected to an extraordinary verbal assault by one island politician who insisted Wayne only had himself to blame.

Antonio Lorenzo, the leader of the Socialist Party on the local council, said Wayne was the 'victim of his own brand of excess and drunkenness'.

He added: 'This will not be solved with more security measures; it will be solved with a change of the tourism model.'

As England's footballers take part in Euro 2024 campaign in Germany, with Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker leading the BBC's coverage of the event, thousands of holidaying fans will watch the action unfold in his estranged brothers venue, Lineker's Bar.

The beachfront sports bar - one of a series the businessman has opened in Mediterranean holiday resorts - stays open until 5am seven days a week.

Meanwhile Wayne's legendary pool party venue the O Beach Ibiza club has become a popular hang out for visiting VIP celebrities with pop stars Ed Sheeran and Lewis Capaldi, TV presenter Maya Jama and footballer Jack Grealish among its clientele.

Wayne is said to have beefed up his personal security since the attack which comes amid a wave of protests against 'overtourism' in the Balearics and other Spanish holiday hotspots.

Despite his health scare this week, Wayne has continued to party harder than most men half his age.

He was seen looking worse for wear on Friday night as he staggered from O Beach to KFC while being propped up by a group of women in their 20s and 30s.

The business owner, who is just a few years away from retirement age, describes himself as a 'medical marvel'.

He told podcast host Josh James that doctors are stunned by how healthy he is, considering he parties for around 170 days straight each year.

On an Ibiza activist Facebook group, locals responded mockingly to a post which described Wayne as the 'King of Ibiza'.

Stefano Bertagnon wrote: 'The only thing ''kingly'' about this man is that all the locals of San Antonio hate his loud castle!

'It's incomprehensible how it is allowed to have music at full volume all day.'

Martina Greef, accused Wayne of 'destroying the island', while another critic wrote: 'What is clear is that if this man and his businesses went elsewhere, the lives of the Ibiza people would be the same or better than under the reign of this buffoon.'

Beatriz Boned said: 'Coming from abroad and being called the ''King of Ibiza'' seems very offensive to me, or rather narcissistic.'

Local Jacquie Perry added: 'What I can say is that O Beach annoys all the neighbours in the area and causes lots of problems when the party ends, and the prices are extremely expensive.'

A local taxi driver told MailOnline that O Beach 'gets hundreds and hundreds of people extremely intoxicated before releasing them into the public.'

He added: 'It can be a problem, we've all been young and had fun but a lot of these people don't respect the island at all, there are regular fights and trouble.

'There are many kings in Ibiza but Wayne Lineker is not my king.'

Lineker's opponents say he's not just promoting a culture of binge drinking but that venues such as his bring other undesirables to the resort famed for its drug-fuelled excesses.

On the promenade outside O Beach, hawkers - who are not connected to the club - can be seen illegally selling balloons filled with laughing gas to punters.

So-called hippy crack has become a scourge on the island for its popularity among British tourists, with mafia-linked groups selling balloons filled with the nitrous oxide for €5 a pop.

Anyone caught selling the substance can be fined between €24,000 and €600,000, while Brits caught inhaling balloons can face sanctions of up to €1,500.

Despite complaints, Wayne insists his businesses help boost the economy on the islands where tourism accounts for around 45 per cent of the Balearic Islands' gross domestic product.

He said last year: 'We are good for San Antonio, people book hotels because they're close to Ocean… we understand that we need to respect everything.'

He insisted he had a 'good relationship' with the police, town hall and mayor.

Wayne - who was born 19 months after his famous brother - quit school at 14 to work on the family's fruit and veg stall.

He opened his first 'Linekers' bar in Tenerife in 1988 before expanding the branch at a series of holiday resorts in Spain and Portugal.

But O Beach is without a doubt the jewel in his crown. The venue is set to expand this year by opening in the millionaire's playground of Dubai.

Wayne was reported to be worth around £30million as of 2021, but he was badly hit by the Covid pandemic and his UK bar business collapsed with a £100,000 debt.

The father-of-four appointed a liquidator to close down the British company run with his son Duane.

Duane International Ltd owed employees £9,530 in unpaid wages, with around £90,000 owed at the time to a business partner and a bank.

In Spain, O Beach is owned by a parent company called Ice Mountain Ibiza SL, of which Duane is the sole administrator, according to the latest documents available.

Duane is largely responsible for the running of O Beach and other Lineker venues in Ibiza.

Wayne previously admitted that his son and others 'do all the hard work' and that he 'gets the credit', adding that he did 'lay down the foundations.'

Nowadays, Wayne can be seen driving around Ibiza in his private-plated Bentley.

He first opened O Beach in 2012 and now spends every summer season in Ibiza, from the end of April until early October.

During the season, he heads to O Beach at around 2pm each day and orders his 'medicine' - a vodka red bull - to help get him in the mood to keep the party going 170 days straight each year.

Every year he stays at the same luxury resort, about a 20-minute drive west of San Antonio, where suites cost upwards of £500 per night.

He said: 'I like the security, I like to feel safe… I'm a prime target, I wouldn't sleep at night if I was in a villa… I'm the only person that's ever lived there since they opened.'

It's not the first time Lineker has been at the centre of controversy.

In 2006 he was jailed for two and a half years for his part in a money laundering scam.

Between 1999 and 2001 he masterminded an operation to smuggle cash worth £220,000 into Britain, avoiding taxes of about £90,000, and was branded a 'burglar and a thief' by a judge.

Wayne - who has three sons and a daughter from three different relationships - has also faced a backlash over his penchant for dating younger women.

He faced a backlash during an appearance at Crouchfest last November, when he was abused by the 12,000-strong crowd at Wembley Arena.

He was brought on stage as one of the live guests during the event, which was a live podcast recording in the style of a festival for the popular 'That Peter Crouch podcast.'

Wayne looked suitably unimpressed when he was loudly abused when he emerged on stage.

In September 2020 Wayne hit the headlines after posting online his list of criteria for his future girlfriend - which included 'giving up her career, having no children, being able to cook and loving R&B'.

The list was posted to Wayne's Instagram account with the hashtag 'banter' but sparked outrage on social media from followers disgusted with his demands - such as 'loving the gym and having body definition' and not being the same age as him because 'that would just look weird'.

The club owner who is reaching pensionable age said he'd prefer someone around 28 or 29-years-old.

After appearing on Celebs Go Dating, he said he had 'expanded' his preferred age for a partner - it was now between 30 and 45.

He previously told MailOnline he went on the dating show to 'let people see the real me.'

Speaking from O Beach last year he explained: 'When it came out I got a lot of love but I also got a lot of hate.

'I was doing... controversial posts shall we say? So I brought it on myself a little bit, but I've calmed down now and the trolls have gone away now.

'You still get the odd one but they don't affect me because I'm quite strong, but there was a period of time where I didn't want my family to see the remarks they were making and so that upset me. I don't want my daughter reading that.'

But Wayne has admitted his lifestyle in Ibiza makes it 'very difficult' for him to get into a relationship.

He has been married twice and has had several girlfriends, but is thought to have been single since his split from ex-fiancée Danielle in 2018, who was in her 20s when they dated.

Meanwhile his feud with brother Gary dates back to 2008, when the former England and Barcelona striker travelled to Ibiza for a holiday with Danielle Bux.

Wayne has said of the rift: 'They came to Ibiza and it was really awkward. I didn't spark with Danielle and our relationship was cold.'

While Wayne was the best man at Gary's first wedding to ex-wife Michelle Cockayne in 1986, but he was not even a guest when he married Danielle in 2009.

The club owner refused to attend because he said his brother told him that he couldn't bring his then-girlfriend, Ana Tanaka, who he had been with for 18 months.

Wayne said in 2015: 'In my opinion, Danielle cost me my relationship with my brother. Sadly Gary is no longer a part of my life.'

He told how he has tried to reconcile the relationship and phoned his older brother on his 50th birthday - but the call lasted less than a minute.

Wayne said: 'I would love nothing more than him to call me up tomorrow and ask to go to lunch to speak about it, but I don't think it's going to happen.'