Controversy and arguments over terraces and occupation of the public way are not confined to Palma. There are also issues in Ses Salines, which includes Colonia Sant Jordi.
The town hall's minority administration led by Bernat Roig of Endavant suffered a defeat at this week's council meeting which means that municipal ordinance for terraces and the public way will be repealed. The mayor's office says that regulations which have been in place have guaranteed both easy passage for pedestrians and bar and restaurant business activity. The bylaw "regulated what was allowed and what was not," notes the mayor. "With this repeal we have nothing. They (the opposition) are wrong if they believe that the solution is to not have an ordinance, as in some instances ... this will prove to be more harmful for businesses."
In effect, however, bars and restaurants will be pretty much free to use whatever space they want to, while they will continue to pay the same terrace tax rate. The Partido Popular, one of the opposition parties which has forced the repeal, insists that the bylaw was too restrictive and was therefore harmful to businesses.
The residents association in Colonia Sant Jordi has reacted to news of the repeal by saying that it will make Colonia (and Ses Salines) "a lawless town". Pavements will be impossible to walk along. Parents with baby buggies, senior citizens and people with reduced mobility will all be forced to use roads instead.