The unnamed litigant bringing the action claims that there has been favouritism towards the owners of Gelats Valls in allowing them to continue with the business at the kiosk without there having been a public tender and without an order to vacate having been put into effect.
The complainant alleges that the town hall has favoured Gelats Valls in "an obvious and direct way that is detrimental to third parties and to the public interest".
The ice-cream kiosk, something of an emblem for Puerto Pollensa, has been operated by the Valls family for decades. In April this year, once it was made known (by the family) that there was an eviction order, an online petition raised thousands of signatures opposing this.
As for the significance of 5 May 2015, this was the date when the owners were awarded an extension for last summer but which did not extend to the current year. When the petition was raised, it was evident that the challenger to Gelats Valls was Grupo Boulevard, which operates the 1919 Café right next to it. The challenge has been based on the fact that the kiosk occupies the "public way" and so should be subject to public tender.
The town hall has not carried out the eviction order and has not initiated a tender.
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He started it..
Now Scott and Wolfgang - stop your petty squabling and comment on the issue in hand. As I understand it the owners of Café 1919 are objecting to their loss of view towards the harbour and complaining that clients of the ice cream kiosk are buying their ice cream there and sitting at the restaurant's tables. I doubt that - as people buy an ice cream and walk along the front to eat it. Apparently Helados Valls have documents going back decades which give them the rights to the kiosk (same as in Pollensa town). So they need to prove this, now through the courts. Valls also have an ice cream café with tables a short distance away, so they will get the trade any way. They also have a butcher's shop in the Port and supply ice cream to many bars, so they are not the small one man business that they used to be. Never to be one who agrees with this Pollensa Council, I think that they were right to give Valls the benefit of the doubt, rather than disrupt the summer with ice cream wars. And of course so many Pollencins are related to the Valls family - favouritism will prevail. That's what goes on here - like it or not!
Thanks for the advice 'Wolfgang'... You sound like a blast. It was actually meant with a slight hint of humour, not sure you're familiar. I get out quite a bit. I've just come back from a 3 week trip and spent the entire time travelling around the island. We did a variety of activities, some of which you mentioned. (When you say 'most of us go diving', I'm not sure you're correct with the royal-'we', I'm pretty sure the queue for the ice creams was bigger than the queue for the diving place... However (with us staying in Puerto Pollensa), after an evening meal in, a stroll along pine walk or perhaps a trip to Cap De Formentor to star-gaze, it was nice to retire to a cheap and cheerful ice cream hut for a nice white chocolate ice cream. Looked pretty popular to me...! Anyway, Captain Buzzkill, try and be cool.
I get mine flown in specially from Naples.
Scott, you need to get out more. Most of us go diving, go out on a boat, eat at places like Fosh Lab, Cas Patro March, go to the spa at the Jumeriah, get fillet steaks for the BBQ from Dunne's etc. You hang out all summer at a 2nd rate ice cream shop??? You want decent ice cream, may I suggest Ice Wave in Palma.
More scandal on back-hander island
Great ice-cream sg a great price... Spent most of this summer there...
Grupo Boulevard are comparatively newcomers to the Port Valls have been there for decades also the coffee they sell isn't that great