PALMA'S popular Easter fair, known as the Fira del Ram opens on February 26 this year, on a provisional site in Sa Riera, where the city's new park is being built.
The site will be made ready this week and will be cleared away once the fair is over, so that work on the park can continue.
Mayor Catalina Cirer, accompanied by several councillors, visited the site of the park, which is scheduled to be completed by April next year, at a cost of 30 million euros. Cirer confirmed that nearly half of the park had been built, and although work will slow down because of the funfair, it will continue in other areas of the park which will follow Sa Riera, the water course which runs along the Paseo Mallorca. The park will eventually have a permanent fair site, not only for the Easter Fair, but also for other fairs. However, the council has not yet decided where the April Fair will be held. Cirer said one possible site is a council-owned plot of land in Son Rossinyol. Part of the funding comes from the central ministry of the environment and representatives have visited the site in recent weeks.
The Mayor confirmed that the ministry has paid the funds promised for 2003 and 2004, a total of 8.16 million euros, and under the terms of the agreement, in June the council will provide a certificate of the work done this year, to a cost of 2.8 million euros, which will again be provided by the ministry. Cirer confirmed that the park will have a two-storey car park for 355 vehicles, a walkway parallel to the water course, two service buildings and various green zones in which 2'181 trees and 2'100 bushes will be planted. One of the snags which the council has come upon is that squatters are occupying abandoned buildings in Sa Riera, but the council is trying to find homes for them, Cirer said. The social services and housing departments are studying the matter on a case by case basis, she explained.