The town hall in Palma has a thing about bar and restaurant terraces. Its latest idea is to stop terraces being enclosed and to also change the system for granting permission to occupy the "public way". Under this, terraces would be allowed to use a set space (which is the case at present) but with a maximum number of tables and chairs.
These latest plans have arisen from a meeting between the public services' councillor, Aurora Jhardi, Palma's federation of residents' associations and the Pimem business association.
With regard to terrace enclosures and canopies, Jhardi says that there is agreement that they should go, as this will improve the general look of the city and its heritage image. However, the best legal means of doing this needs to be looked into so that "brutal permissiveness" of the previous administration is addressed.
Jhardi suggests that this permissiveness allowed establishments to gain ever more space, but she accepts that controlling the occupation of the public way is difficult because of a lack of personnel. Nevertheless, the local police continue to work on this, despite the disappearance of the discredited Green Patrol.
The councillor says that all parties are in agreement that there should be more space for pedestrians and that there should be more stringent standards for accessibility. There is also "consensus" on the need to harmonise terrace furniture "in order to improve it".