Illegal street selling has not been included in Palma town hall's updated bylaw for regulation of the public way. In presenting the contents of the modified ordinance on Tuesday, the Podemos councillor for public service, Aurora Jhardi, expressed her satisfaction that it had not been included "out of respect for human rights". She observed that there are, nevertheless, state laws that prohibit illegal street selling.
The inclusion of a specific ban has created friction between Podemos and PSOE. Jhardi has had responsibility for the drafting of the bylaw, but PSOE's councillor for public safety, Angelica Pastor, has wanted to include a ban on illegal selling in a separate regulation mainly to do with street drinking. She has seemingly wished to do this because illegal selling was not being included in the public way bylaw. Podemos have not supported Pastor, while Més (the party of the mayor, Antoni Noguera) has yet to make its position clear.
The Partido Popular opposition has expressed its concern that there will be no bylaw to regulate illegal selling. Its spokesperson, Javier Bonet, has called for a temporary regulation until new ordinance on civic behavior (which is Pastor's domain) is drawn up.
The other main announcement on Tuesday was about terraces. The upshot of the new bylaw is that some four per cent of bar/restaurant terraces will disappear out of a total of 1,098 in the city as a whole. Mayor Noguera insisted that it is not a bylaw for the residents, for the restaurant owners or for the town hall. It was instead a bylaw for the city. He rejected the idea that the process of arriving at the new bylaw had been a war in which there are winners and losers.
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Well,that’s clear.Next time I am in Palma I will ensure I only purchase fake goods from illegal street sellers out of respect for their HUMAN RIGHTS,I will also make a point of telling the tax paying shopkeepers that they should be happy and support the politicians of their city whilst they are struggling to pay taxes,bills and going bankrupt. Only in Mallorca!!!
I really hope the voters remember Aurora Jhardi and her immortal words 'out of respect for human rights' next year. Who on earth does she think pays her salary? An illegal seller, selling counterfeit goods and taking sales away from tax paying legitimate businesses or a legitimate tax paying business? Clearly this woman lives in a fantasy world and has probably never worked in the real world. I pray the bleeding heart Podemos and Més will get thrown out next year. We deserve much better!
This is the same lady who held, and lost, a referendum about banning tables and chairs on the Borne. She has now managed to pass a law banning most tables and chairs on pavements and pedestrian roads, obviously this time without holding a referendum. So, before it was illegal and nothing was done about it, now it will be “legal” so the police really will have their hands tied behind their backs. An interesting point about this new council byelaw is that if an illegal/legal seller falls whilst being chased by a member of the police, the policeman will be liable for any damages suffered by the person breaking the law. Marvellous !