The Alicante City Council will reduce the nightly closure of the terraces by one hour "to advance the conciliation of economic activity and the rest of the residents."
The measure, included in the draft ordinance regulating the Temporary Occupation of Public Roads, approved today by the government board, is limited to the low season, that is, the peak of activity in the summer months, the extension of which has been also shortened by 15 days, the schedules remain intact.
The proposal comes just a week after the mayor, Luis Barcala, described the intention of the Vice President of the Government Yolanda Díaz to bring forward the closure of hospitality establishments as “majority.”
The snip comes at night, according to municipal sources.
The terraces and nightstands will be able to remain open between 8 a.m. and 11:59 p.m., when until now they were allowed to close at 1:00 a.m. the next day.
On weekends and holidays, the openings will be at 09:00, while the gates must be lowered at 1:00 in the morning.
In high season, which has lost two weeks, since it previously began on June 1 and will now do so on the 15th of that same month, and which lasts until September 30, the schedules are maintained: until 1 on weekdays and 60 minutes later on Fridays, Saturdays and the eve of holidays.
This consideration of the tranquility of the neighbors affected by the noise of the terrace users comes just a week after Barcala (PP), which governs with a sufficient majority, responded vehemently to the second vice president and Minister of Labor and Social economy.
Díaz pointed out that the hospitality schedules in Spain did not seem reasonable to him and called the differences between them and those in other countries crazy.
The first mayor of Alicante, who at that time was in Jaén, assured that the idea of the leader of Sumar was “a nonsense.”
“I don't know what the vice president of the government eats for breakfast, but it's just to let you see,” said Barcala ironically, for whom these statements showed an “absolute ignorance” of the functioning of the “Spanish tourist sector and the customs we have, which are appreciated by the visitors.”
The new ordinance, which opens its plenary processing this Tuesday, also recovers the installation of terraces in authorized parking strips, introduced for the first time in Alicante "in an extraordinary way" during the coronavirus pandemic.
Thus, the platforms located on the road will return, which will occupy the width of the façade of the establishments and which "must respect a passage area of 1.8 meters on the sidewalk."
The new tables, which will have side protection, will also be able to house “portable screens with planters and extendable windbreaks made of micro-perforated fabric.”
In addition, its owners will be able to project images on the sidewalk and place ornamental elements, until now limited to specific periods, such as Christmas.
The regulation recasts two previous ones, so it also contemplates the legislation relating to non-sedentary sales, that is, street markets.
In this area, the disappearance of the stands located on the Esplanade stands out, one of the areas most visited by residents and tourists, which will conclude its activity on October 31 of this year.
The one in the San Antón neighborhood, located in the historic center of the city, will be managed by the festival commission, while the craft market on Niza Avenue on San Juan beach will change location.