That decree was a response to residents' complaints about noise as well as a general 'touristification' of the area. It was a decree that has to be viewed from a political perspective. The councillor who took the decision in 2019 was Aurora Jhardi of Podemos. For much of the 2015-2019 administration it had appeared as if Jhardi was waging a campaign against terraces, and not just those of La Lonja.
Jhardi ceased to be a councillor after the May election in 2019, but the coalition administration of which Podemos were a part maintained the decree. The restaurants association took the matter to court and won a ruling in its favour. The town hall appealed this. Earlier this year, before the election, the Balearic High Court upheld the ruling. The town hall then sought clarification of the judges' decision. This has yet to be given, but on Monday the terraces were allowed to revert to the hours they had once had - to midnight on weekdays and to half past midnight at the weekend.
A new administration in place, and a Partido Popular mayor, Jaime Martínez, made a political move. Yet neither this nor the 2019 decree can said to be entirely satisfactory when faced by the seemingly intractable problem of making interests of residents and business compatible.
Reaction to the latest town hall measure by residents who don't live in the immediate vicinity has been positive. But for those who do live there, the response has been anything but positive. The president of the local residents association, Jaume Herrero, says: "We are outraged. It is one more turn of the screw. There is a clear bias towards restaurateurs, who seem to be the only ones who create wealth, and not residents who work in education, health or in any other sector."
He adds that the residents have been bothering "the tourist resort of La Lonja" and now that the hours have been lengthened, he says that some residents are looking at moving. "This is a political change that only favours restaurateurs."
This said, there are residents such as Toni Cardona, who are resigned to the measure. "Whatever they do, everything will remain the same. In the end, it's not so much about laws or regulations, but about civility. That is more difficult to change."
One of the restaurant owners, Toni Garau, is of a very different opinion to Herrero. While the re-establishment of the longer hours has come late in the season, "we are very satisfied". He and others are once more looking to hold former councillors to account for losses incurred by the reduction in hours.
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