There is further evidence of an apparent division among political parties at Palma town hall regarding illegal street selling. The latest surfaced during a meeting of the accounts committee at which the ruling administration voted down a proposal which had been agreed between Angelica Pastor, the PSOE councillor for public safety and so therefore part of the administration, and the opposition Partido Popular.
At the council session last month, a failure to reach agreement on street selling between the administration's parties (PSOE, Més, Podemos) led to the PP and these three parties pledging to draft an alternative text. From this came the proposal that was turned down at the accounts committee. It stated that the full council will commit to maintaining the prohibition of illegal street selling contained in municipal bylaws and use all means to deal with this illegal activity.
To the astonishment of the PP, the vote went against this. Adrián García, who is the PSOE councillor for finance and economic affairs, limited himself to saying that it will be debated at the next full council session. Meanwhile, Aurora Jhardi of Podemos, who is councillor for public function (civil service), remained silent. She has removed the prohibition of illegal street selling from the forthcoming bylaw regarding the public way.
Javier Bonet for the PP said that the vote was totally unexpected but that it highlighted the poor relations between Pastor and Jhardi, which "are affecting the citizens and traders". He added that Podemos and Més seem to want to authorise illegal selling, despite it being contrary to law. Pastor, who wasn't at the meeting, later tweeted that "we will continue to fight street selling with specific campaigns".
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Most of the illegal street sellers in Calvia sell drugs to the tourists, end of. Anyone who had worked the street at night can see this. Sunglasses and hats are just a cover which allow them to do the deals with tourists. They sell the drugs for the Mallorquin mafia who grow it on the island or ship in in from North Africa. They also provide the Senegalese with false jobs so they were legal (the head of the Mallorcan Senegal Association was arrested earlier this year. The rest is quite straightforward to work out...
I would think the issue of illegal traders, selling counterfeit goods and harassing tourists and residents would be a no-brainer but apparently not. What about the store owners who pay rent, pay taxes, employ people (who also pay taxes) and try to support themselves and their families? Do they not factor into the equation? Using the reasoning that if they were arrested and taken off the streets and would have no income to pay for their living costs is nonsense. If I chose to engage in an illegal activity, the consequences are my responsibility, not society's. They are illegal, selling illegal goods and NOT paying taxes......end of story.
I was just using Manila and the Philippines as an example to make my point. I would rather that those street traders in Palma, like the poor people in Manila, were trading and trying to make a living rather than being banned from doing so. I think if the traders in Palma were banned, the streets and public places there would become less pleasant and safe, and have crime levels like the streets and public places of Barcelona have now.
Who is doing the trading, native filipinos or illegal immigrants from Africa ?
Maybe Podemos and Mes have a pragmatic approach, because if illegal street selling was banned in Palma, then the sellers would just be left loitering about in the public places with no means of subsistence, doing nothing but watching people around and scoping them out as potential targets for a crime. I am British from Nottingham but my wife is from the Philippines and we have a house in Manila. Despite all of the poverty in that city, I always feel quite safe in the streets there, and have never been a crime victim. I think this is due to the poor people being allowed to trade in the streets, and again earn an honest living, even if what they are doing is technically illegal. If this street trading was banned in Manila, I think the public places would feel less safe and actually be less safe, especially for a foreign visitor like myself.
Who actually controls Mallorca,is it the politicians,is it the police,or it is someone else?If there is no enthusiasm to uphold the law and can only think mallorcians do not care as mainly only tourists effected then perhaps it's time to holiday elsewhere!
A few days ago, Tom and S were saying how well the authorities dealt with this problem. Are they ?
How long do you think 1.000 ( white ) people from, lets say Newcastle and Glasgow would last doing the same thing, ie selling counterfeit goods and not paying any taxes on the proceeds ?
Lawrie, the police do not have the means nor a solution to deal with them. If they were arrested and taken off the streets they would have no income to pay for their living costs. Legal or illegal status makes no difference. The island has to turn a blind eye to them. Tourists on the other hand are fair game to mug with tourist tax and frightening hotel rates. Put up with the top manta men the and mugging prostitutes - they are here to stay. No government has been able to do anything in all the years I have been here. The politicians make their usual noises but nothing ever comes of it. Not even our current all caring, all controlling, all social do-gooders will do anything.
If it was indigenous Spanish that were trading illegally on the streets then I could just about get the political division but what we are talking about here are foreign mostly illegal immigrants. They spoil the holiday experience for a lot of people. Palma is becoming infested by them. Sometimes I just dont get the Spanish mentality.