Call for more police in la Llonja

Bar owners in la Llonja are demanding that the Palma City Council introduce new laws prohibiting the sale and consumption of alcohol in public places, similar to the measures recently introduced by Valencia Council in its bid to crack down on the level of noise. The President of the La Llonja Bar and Restaurant Association, Valeriano Herrero, said yesterday that the weekend gatherings of youngsters at the Old Port of Palma where the boots of cars are turned into make shift bars is where the problems start. It appears that once a substantial amount of alcohol has been drunk in the Old Port car park, the hundreds of people then descend on La Lonja - making all the noise, but the bars get the blame. “The problem is public order and nothing else,” Herrero said. While there are a few establishments that allow drinking in the streets, the majority of bar owners would welcome a greater police presence in the area to help maintain public order. The Federation also says that it is time for the bar owners and the local residents, who have been at loggerheads over the level of noise in the area for the past five years, to meet in a bid to try and reach a satisfactory and unanimous solution to the problems dogging la Llonja.