Terrace in La Lonja, Palma Mallorca

Terraces will be able to close at times they did before the town hall decree. | Jaume Morey

Andrew EdePalma09/05/2023 16:04
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The Balearic High Court has upheld an appeal by restaurants in Palma's La Lonja district against a town hall decree of 2019 which forced them to close their terraces at 11pm. The court's ruling finds that the town hall did not provide sufficient argument or supporting documentation for its decree. The effect of the ruling is that terrace closing times should be as they were before the decree - midnight on weekdays and 12.30am at the weekend.

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Both the restaurants association and the Palma federation of residents associations are making demands of the town hall as a result of the ruling. The restaurants will be seeking compensation of between 1.5 million and two million euros for loss of earnings. The federation, meanwhile, wants an urgent meeting in order to demand that the town hall appeals the ruling, taking the matter to the Supreme Court in Madrid if necessary.

The federation points out that the high court's ruling was based solely on a lack of evidence presented by the town hall; the court didn't take a view as to the principle of there being earlier closing. The president of the La Lonja residents association, Jaume Herreros, believes that the ruling highlights a "lack of political will to guarantee residents' rights to peace and quiet". La Lonja is classified as an 'acoustically saturated zone', and he notes that some 500 complaints have been made to the town hall over the past couple of years.