Street artists and performers in Palma are to be covered by a revision of the municipal bylaw governing the use of the public way. There used to be a specific bylaw but it was repealed by the last administration at the town hall. Currently, the city's police give approvals, but the town hall recognises that greater control needs to be applied in order to overcome "current problems".
Eva Frade, the councillor for citizen participation, says these problems arise because of occasional conflicts between artists and residents and businesses and also between the artists themselves. In addition, there can be issues with noise made by street performers.
At present, there is no inventory of the various artists and performers. Frade admits that the town hall doesn't know how many there are. She explains that many of them live in Palma all year but that there are others who just come during the tourism season. Under the bylaw revision, artists will be given a licence card. It has yet to be decided if this will be temporary (and so subject to regular renewal) and if there will be a charge for it.
The implication is that priority will be given to artists who reside in the city all year. Others will be given the card, depending on what spaces are available, though these spaces would have to be determined.
Organisation of spaces is one of the main priorities. Additional considerations include type of artist, aesthetics, the amount of area required and the originality of work. With musicians, Frade says that they will need to have a wide and varied repertoire in order to avoid being repetitious. She adds that there may well be a system of rotation of places for musicians.