Anyone arriving at Palma de Mallorca airport for their flight home is familiar with this picture. As soon as you have passed the security check and want to walk to the gate, you are forced to cross the duty free area. Besides perfumes and cosmetics, wines and high-proof alcohol, but also tobacco and sweets are offered here.
The Balearic government party Podemos now wants to put a stop to this. It demands that passengers no longer be forced to walk through the sales area. The party considers the existing regulation "inadmissible" and "ridiculous", writes the Mallorca Bulletin sister newspaper "Última Hora".
"It is unacceptable that families in a public infrastructure are forced to cross an entire area where harmful products such as tobacco and alcohol are sold," Iván Sevillano of the Council of Mallorca is quoted as saying. Particularly vulnerable groups such as children and minors should not come into contact with products such as alcohol and tobacco and should be protected from them, the statement continues. Therefore, AENA, the Spanish operating company, should create an alternative for the future, demands the Podemos party. So it could be that the footpaths for travellers at Palma airport will change soon.
The party will introduce a motion to this effect in the plenary session of the Council of Mallorca this week. It is also calling for controls to be put in place so that, for example, children and young people are no longer exposed to tobacco and alcohol advertising. Son Sant Joan Airport is used by millions of travellers every year, it cannot be that they are forced to go through the duty free area. It should be an individual decision of each person and not the main and only way to the gates, the Mallorca daily "Última Hora" quotes Iván Sevillano, who is the Podemos candidate for the presidency of the Council of Mallorca.