Traders and residents in the Carrer de Bonaire area of Palma are threatening to take legal action over the imminent expansion of the Acire de Sant Jaume.
“First we will take the Administrative route, which we know for sure we will lose, then we will file a lawsuit against this measure,” they said.
Bonaire Area Advisor, Antoni Vilella, has blasted the Government’s handling of the situation.
"There has been no attempt at dialogue, no citizen participation and no transparency,” he claims.
In the early hours of Thursday morning, a large number of traders and neighbours from the Bonaire area gathered in front of Palma Local Police Headquarters, where the Mobility Department is based, to present a petition with 3,000 signatures from business ownes affected by the extension.
They were dressed in black and had ropes around their necks to represent the drowning situation they feel they are in and demanded Mobility Councillor, Francesc Dalmau’s resignation.
“When he says he has visited all the businesses in the area one by one, it’s a lie; when he says that the ACIRE extension is a neighbourhood petition it’s a lie. We meet and we talk and we can say that the Associació de Veïns de Sant Jaume has not requested an ACIRE extension,” he insisted.
"Councillor Dalmau has built this ACIRE on the basis of a lie, which we will all be victims of, if it goes ahead."
Viella says a technical assessment by a competent official endorsing the Acire de Bonaire has been formally requested.
"Most of us are entrepreneurs and we know that sometimes one is wrong and the smartest thing to do take a step back and walk more firmly tomorrow, hopefully this advice will reach Councillor Dalmau," he said.
Ignacio Luis who represents 1,860 residents in the area says residents are outraged that Palma City Council politicians are not listening.