Years ago there was a huge argument in the United Kingdom about police spending more time taking care of paperwork than pounding the beat and, with all due respect, questions have to surely be asked about what the police are actually doing in light of the tragic events in the UK over the past month.
Anyway, I would like to pose the question here in Palma. The other day I was having lunch in a Palma restaurant when two burly members of the local police, fully tooled up, marched in, giving all of the clients, some of whom were holidaymakers, quite a shock. The issue, the one which Palma City Council seems obsessed about - terraces.
From what I could gather, I did not want to make my ear wigging to obvious to the rozzers, was that as of tomorrow (Monday) bars and restaurants can no longer leave their tables and chairs nicely stacked and locked up on their terraces overnight.
The owner of the restaurant I was in explained that, for example, this would add extra time to closing and opening up because the interior would have to be stacked away as well to make room for the terrace furniture.
Moreover, his exterior heaters were far too tall to fit inside. But the coppers made it clear that the owner had been warned and informed. They would be back on Monday and off they went storming into all the restaurants along the Paseo Mallorca.
Apart from the fact I can’t get my head round this terrace issue - it’s brought more life to the centre of Palma and boosted takings for bars and restaurants - surely, someone at the town hall can take care of informing the establishments of the new rules and regulations. I am sure that the police have got better things to do - boosting numbers in Playa de Palma perhaps.