Palma town hall is to encourage Christmas shopping at the city's small retailers by providing 11,000 bus and municipal car park tickets to the two retailers' associations, Afedeco and Pimeco.
The programme was presented on Tuesday, the town hall explaining that businesses which are members of the two associations will be able to give their customers tickets to travel free on EMT buses (round trips) or park for free for up to two hours in the municipal car parks. The 11,000 tickets are divided evenly between these two options, with the car park tickets being distributed in blocks according to area and to car park, e.g. Parc de la Mar, Plaça Major and Sa Riera.
Shops taking part in the campaign will display a sticker, and the associations will be responsible for managing the distribution and collection of the tickets.
Mayor José Hila said at the presentation that for a Christmas marked by Covid, "the best way to help our shops is to buy from small business and not online". "We all have friends and relatives who work in them, so let's help them." He added that the tickets' scheme is part of a set of actions for supporting small business, among which is the improvements to the Christmas lights.
The councillor for economic development and employment, Rodrigo Romero, thanked various departments at the town hall for the campaign. "An effort has been made to make it easier for people to get into the centre, either with their cars or by public transport, so that they can do their shopping."