Palma town hall spokesperson Alberto Jarabo explained on Wednesday that 127 of the city's bars and restaurants have a terrace enclosure that must be removed by the first week of March. These 127 represent ten per cent of the total.
A further moratorium (delay) for the removal of these enclosures had been called for by restaurant and bar owners. The town hall has rejected this, Jarabo noting that there had already been an eighteen-month extension to enable businesses to replace the existing enclosures with ones that occupy less of the public way.
Meetings with the federation of residents associations and other groups, Jarabo said, had made clear that they were against any further extension. As well as this opposition, he stressed that that the only possibility for granting an extension would be an amendment to the municipal bylaw governing occupation of the public way.
The councillor understood that there are bar and restaurant owners who are unhappy about the changes to enclosures. He added that the town hall is willing to look at possible grants for those establishments which have difficulties in effecting the required changes.