Council wants to control buskers

A DRAFT of future legislation governing what entertainment activity can, and cannot, be carried out on city streets is to be made available to citizens' groups for them to provide their own input to the law by the end of the year. Speaking yesterday, Mayor's deputy Catalina Terrassa, representing the centre-right Partido Popular, said that the most significant points of the draft bill included limitations to be placed on buskers who will not be able to perform more than 20 minutes in the same spot, or to keep repeating their repertoire. Moreover, such musicians can't return to the same place to perform until a minimum of three hours has passed.
Another issue under review is the possibility that Local Police might be given power to prohibit the activities of “human statues”, mime artists, jugglers, clowns and puppeteers who cannot provide a sufficient level of quality. Terrassa pointed out, however, there is still room within the draft document for variations on these themes before the legislation is made final.
She is to oversee a preliminary hearing at Palma City Hall of suggestions and objections prior to giving her final seal of approval on a final document at a separate Council meeting at a later date.
EVALUATION
As an example of the flexibility she would like to see discussed, Terrassa said: “The time allowed for street entertainers to perform in a single location doesn't necessarily have to be fixed at twenty minutes, it could be more, it could be less. The months before legislation becomes final will also allow for evaluation of the “human statues” that position themselves near the city's favourite monuments.” She added that the draft document has already been drawn up. Another aspect of street entertainment control concerned music bands representing different districts of the city. Care had to be taken that their practice and performance was not an ongoing nuisance to local residents. Legislation may also prohibit the selling of newspapers in the street so as to be fair to shops and kiosks. Future limitations may also be placed on how public walkways can be used. Bars and cafés with street seating currently have to leave a minimum of two metres to allow pedestrians to pass.