This month's council session in Calvia will initially approve an amendment to an old bylaw on the police and "good government" and rename it the ordinance for developing co-existence in Calvia. It will be an amendment that gets tough on anti-social behaviour and on practices of a more criminal orientation.
It is said that the amendment will be one of the most significant measures for controlling prostitution (often a ruse for mugging and violent robbery) in blackspots in Magalluf and Santa Ponsa. Fines for offering sexual services or soliciting will range from 600 to 1,500 euros. The text of the amendment also gives the possibility of criminal proceedings against prostitutes who are repeat offenders. It also covers the likes of illegal street selling, drinking on the street, urinating in public and "balconing".
The need to change this municipal law of 1991 stems from alterations to state and regional legislation as well as from the fact that certain provisions have been adopted by other bylaws.
The amendment was first raised by the Magalluf monitoring committee last spring and has since been worked on by the chief of police, town hall legal services and various municipal departments. It is ordinance, it is being stressed, in respect of co-existence between people and is not a civic behaviour ordinance (of the type that Palma fell foul of when it was challenged in court).
The new bylaw will have 67 articles as opposed to the 268 of the old one. It therefore removes a diverse range of stipulations assumed by other bylaws, such as ones related to traffic and civil protection, water supply, street cleaning and waste, markets and fairs and others.
The amendment will also, it is said, become a more effective means for fining transgressors. Specifically, there is the fact that in many instances people subject to fines are only in the municipality for a short period of time and so they need to be dealt with rapidly and with a system that allows a voluntary 50%-off payment within ten days.
Fines that are to be levied will range from 100 euros for minor infractions to 3,000 euros for the most serious. For public displays of nudity or semi-nudity away from beaches, the maximum fine will be 600 euros. Drinking in the street will be prohibited between 10pm and 8am, while there will be a fine of up to 1,500 euros for balconing.