Last week, some surprise was expressed at the fact that the national government's delegate in the Balearics, Maria Salom, did not attend a meeting with the government, retailers and town halls to consider ways of dealing with illegal street selling.
Yesterday, there was a meeting between Salom, the employment, trade and industry minister Iago Negueruela, town hall representatives, the National Police, the Guardia Civil and the retailers. Agreement was made on improving the coordination between police forces and on launching campaigns at airports and ports designed to stop tourists from buying goods from illegal sellers.
Salom said that the town halls' federation, Felib, will look to get municipalities to adopt bylaws like those in Calvia, where it is said that the illegal sale has gone down. Negueruela observed that it is necessary to consider the situation from a social perspective by "improving the integration of certain groups".
Antoni Sampol of Pimem agreed with the minister that greater attention needs to be paid to the storage and distribution of products destined for illegal sale.
Palma's councillor for public safety, Angelica Pastor, called for improved police collaboration, noting that the local police cannot deal with illegal selling and counterfeiting on their own. "We have municipal ordinances that regulate street vending. Then there are the responsibilities of the state security forces. We are asking for 50-50 and not 90-10, as it has become."
Bernat Coll of Pimeco was critical of Palma town hall, saying that there are more people selling than those that the town hall admits to. If, by the end of the month, there are no decisive measures against illegal selling, questions will be asked about political responsibilities.
The Afedeco president, Rafel Ballester, left the meeting with some "expectations", adding that his association is demanding a fight against the distribution of illegal goods and against the "mafias" which take advantage of people.
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