Lighting by Balneario Six last summer. | Alexander Sepasgosarian

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Playa de Palma residents are warning that there will be an increase in robberies because the promenade and beach are much darker since there was a change of the lighting.

The president of the Arenal-Platja residents association, Francisco Nogales, explains that the town hall has this winter substituted street lights on the promenade between Can Pastilla and Arenal with spotlights which do not have the same level of illumination. "You can't see anything because they are much lower and the field of illumination is limited. The street lights were higher and lit up the beach."

He says that residents are complaining because they are afraid of being robbed if they go for a walk when it's dark. In all the meetings held to consider security in Playa de Palma, he adds, the police have always highlighted the need for good lighting as a means of improving security.

The association is therefore demanding that the street lights are reinstalled and that if they are not in good condition then they should be renewed. He says that the situation has been brought to the attention of the councillor for Playa de Palma, Helena Paquier.

The councillor for infrastructure, Rodrigo Romero, says that some 300 street lights were removed because they were in a poor condition and in danger of falling down. He accepts that the lighting isn't good and adds that the town hall is working on a project that will require 2.5 million euros funding, which is being sought from the Playa de Palma consortium or via the tourist tax. He insists that illumination from the spotlights will be improved in time for the summer.