When life returns to normal following the coronavirus crisis I sincerely hope that the Palma city council rethinks their ridiculous legislation on covered terraces.
At a time when local businesses were suffering, and that was before the coronavirus crisis, the city council decided to ban covered bar and restaurant terraces because they believed that they were impeding the right of way of pedestrians (I know it sounds incredible but that is the truth!). So bar and restaurants were told to dismantle their terraces or face a big fine. The terraces have gone. And now bars and restaurants have been closed.
These businesses are going to need all the help they can get if they want to salvage their companies after a nightmare period and the council should scrap this senseless ruling at once.
The Palma city council wants to attract more winter tourists and there is nothing better than sitting outside in a bar or a restaurant in the low season enjoying the sunshine but still shielded from the elements. Obviously during the summer months the covered terraces will be needed to offer some shelter from the midday sun.
The bar and restaurant association has organised a referendum to vote on the issue of removing the covered terraces. I sincerely hope that the result is positive and the council takes note and sees the error of their ways. If the city council wants to help local businesses scrapping this law would be a step forward.