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When the tourist season is going to eventually start is the million euro question, but there are authorities already thinking out of the box and doing their best to make sure they, and their immediate communities, are ready to react and do so fast.

For example, Calvia council has announced that it is lifting the rates bars and restaurants will have to pay for their terraces this year and I think it would be a good idea if Palma City Council followed suit.

After all the tension city hall has created with its crusade against bar and restaurant terraces, it would be a grand gesture to the small business sector to postpone, if not cancel, the new restrictions which came into force on the eve of the lockdown with scores of bars and restaurants al-ready having removed their terraces - much to the dismay of thousands of visitors who love Palma's cosmopolitan pavement lifestyle and culture.

What is more, with hundreds of bars and restaurants warning of severe losses in revenue and jobs due to the council's actions, a U-turn would serve to help boost business confidence and faith in city hall. It is going to be a challenge to not only lure visitors to Palma in the short term this year, local residents will also need some encouragement and a confidence boost to venture out on to the streets again and gather in bars and restaurants. There is a psychological social battle to win.