New Palma bylaw will extend closing times for clubs

Clubs in Palma will be allowed to stay open half an hour later, until 5.45am, and other establishments will also have later closing hours under new municipal bylaws which the city council's planning department is expected to approve tomorrow. It bans the ‘after hours' concept but extends closing times for clubs by half an hour (at 5.45am) and includes a new concept, a music bar, which opens at 4pm and closes at 3.45am. ‘Concert cafes' will be allowed to close 90 minutes later than at present, at 4.45am. But establishments without music such as restaurants will still have to close no later than 2.30am on weekdays. Under the new bylaw, it will be considered a serious fault to open or close an establishment ten minutes before or after the established times. Another serious fault will be failure to comply with the details on opening licence. Sanctions can include the closing of the establishment for between eight days and two months and a fine of 300 to 1'200 euros. In very serious cases (an accumulation of two serious faults) the fine will range from 1'200 to 1'800 euros and the establishment can be closed for two to six months. Although the new bylaw is due to be approved tomorrow, it can not be applied this summer, as first of it has to be posted for public inspection, when objections can be lodged. These objections must then be studied and the bylaw approved by the council and published in the official Balearic gazette.