Local Police chiefs yesterday.

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Palma City Council is winning the war on prostitution in the capital and along the Playa de Palma. Council spokesperson, José Manuel Sierra, said yesterday that the crackdown launched by the Local and National Police over the summer has proved successful and the number of prostitutes has fallen “sharply,” especially in the popular tourist resorts along the Playa de Palma. Police reports state that at the start of the year “hundreds” of women aged between 25 and 35, the majority of which were foreign, were working the streets of Palma and beyond. Sierra said that while the police, with the full backing of the city council, have strictly enforced the long arm of the law, the new Immigration Law has also helped the authorities curtail the activities of scores of prostitutes, reduce the number of petty crimes and tighten security. Winning the war on prostitution was the highlight of the Local Police summer report. The figures show a reduction in the number of traffic offences and that the noise contamination laws are finally being complied with. Last year the failure by bar and club owners to comply with the rules and regulations sparked angry confrontations between residents, the bars and the city council along the Playa de Palma. But, whereas during the summer of 2000, police carried out 599 noise contamination controls, and subsequently penalised scores of businesses, only 45 controls were carried out this summer. The war on ticket touts is also being won. Last year the police took action against 2.568 ticket touts, this summer, action was taken on just 941 occasions and the police have also managed to reduce the activities of street con-men with their illegal gambling games. Sierra said that, especially in the case of prostitution, the police's hands were tied by a lack of judicial support. But he explained that the new immigration law has enabled the police to act effectively, detaining many of the prostitutes because they are quite simply in the country illegally; working as prostitutes or not.