PALMA
Business owners in the Plaza Major, in central Palma, say they feel powerless and cheated after the city council's unfulfilled promise this year to have the Christmas market stalls facing their businesses and not with their backs to them, as is usual.
The owners of these establishments, mostly bars and cafeterias. insist that the traditional distribution of the Christmas market damages their businesses, as the stalls obscure our businesses and their layout makes it difficult for people to get to us.
The business owners are complaining that the agreement reached with the current Palma council to solve a complaint which has been going on for 20 years has been broken. according to representatives of the owners of the shop Uomo.
They recalled that the heads of the Consumer and Commerce departments of the council assured us that the distribution of the stalls would change, at last, to leave our businesses visible, make it easier to walk about the Plaza, gain more space and avoid smells coming from certain stalls, they said.
They insist that the way the stalls are set up blocks the sight of our businesses so people who do not know the Plaza Major don't know we are here, and this has a considerable effect on our income.
Nevertheless, they underlined that, we have nothing against the stall holders.
On the contrary, we should work together so that we can all benefit. We want them to sell their products, but we want to do the same, said Helio Romera, of Zachari. According to Jorge Cesar, of Aboriginal, we have wasted our time. We trusted that the council had good intentions, and now we feel cheated.
The way the stalls are laid out is the same as it always was, and nobody has given us any explanation for this.
Cesar added that, people do not want a Plaza Major with a sad and unfestive atmostphere which is not felt in any other Plaza.
In the opinion of the heads of the II Grotto, the council did not intend to make the change, in spite of showing us a plan of modifications. The stallholders and ourselves are in agreement, but everything continues the same.