There is outrage among some Palma bar and restaurant proprietors who have now learned that platforms they had created for temporary terraces on roads may not have to be removed after all.
On Friday, a local police notice was issued. This stated that raised platforms could "continue to be installed". This followed the town hall announcement earlier in the week that the temporary terraces, which occupy car parking spaces, had to be eliminated as bars and restaurants were now not allowed to open. Proprietors were given three days, "without exception", to remove them; Saturday was the deadline.
The owner of a bar on the Avenida Argentina said: "They now tell us this three days after they told us to remove them. Many of us have spent a lot on installing them and now also on taking them away. Given the situation we face, this is the final straw."
Alberto Jarabo, Palma town hall's spokesperson, says that the police notice was the consequence of the request made by proprietors. It did not imply "a general permission to maintain terraces on the roads". "It only affects those that have a platform and where owners have requested that this stays (because removal would present difficulties). Technicians will assess each case."