Palma town hall is finalising an agreement with street performer associations for amending regulations that were approved just over a year ago. Councillor Alberto Jarabo says that the text of these regulations was not detailed enough and that "anyone could perform". It will now be necessary for performers to belong to associations, which will themselves control quality criteria.
This means having accreditation as part of an association and paying a monthly fee of four euros for each square metre occupied. Jarabo adds that performers will be asked "to make the effort" to pay this fee from the outset. From de-escalation Phase 3, they will be able to operate, while they don't incur costs such as self-employment insurance.
The revised regulations will provide "clear criteria" that can be understood by performers, residents and police. In the old centre of the city, the places will be marked so that there are no doubts. Authorised points could have signs reading "an artist works here", while there will be places where there won't be authorisation. In Plaça Major, for example, there have been complaints about the number of musicians, so they will not be allowed to perform there. Bands will have to perform in Plaça Olivar, on the Born and perhaps elsewhere. Their hours will be from 11.00 to 14.00 and 17.00 to 21.00. Individual musicians can perform for a maximum of forty minutes; bands for thirty minutes.
Where amplification is used, this can only be up to 30 watts. Jarabo explains that until now this has been measured in decibels but that this is made difficult because of a lack of sound level meters.