The mayor of the Lisbon parish of Misericordia criticized the council’s proposals for nightlife

The president of the Lisbon parish council of Misericordia, Carla Madeira (PS), said this Saturday that the council’s proposals to balance the residents’ right to rest and economic activity at night are “a handful of nonsense”.

“The ban on the sale of alcohol on the street from 1 am is something that is already written in the charter, it says that at the request of the parish council, the council can ban the sale of alcohol in certain areas of the city. city ​​of Lisbon on the street from one in the morning. I have been asking for advice on this measure for two years now,” complained socialist Carla Madeira.

Speaking to Lusa, the mayor of Misericordia said she has asked the current municipal executive, chaired by Carlos Moedas (PSD), to apply the ban “throughout the entire parish.”

Carla Madeira explained that this proposal was made after the last lifting of restrictions in the context of Covid-19, “when consumption on the street grew exponentially and many establishments appeared.”

“To date, I have not received a single response to my request,” the chairman of the board objected, expressing surprise that the chamber’s proposal includes part of her request, since it covers only some territories, and not the entire territory of the region. parish and questioned the need for public consultations.

“If the parish council had made such a request to the chamber, then an order from the mayor would be sufficient to implement this measure, so if the mayor wanted to implement it, he would have already implemented it,” he said.

Following a proposal from the Lisbon City Council (CML), new measures are under public consultation until April 1 to “guarantee a balance between the right to rest and economic activity at night,” including a ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages outside from 1 a.m. in Bairro Alto , Bique, Cais do Sodre and Santos.

Another proposal is the creation of a temporary restriction zone at 23:00 on Rua de São Paulo, which applies only to establishments that do not meet the city’s requirements for their economic activities, as well as an amendment to the Regulation on opening hours. establishments selling to the public and providing services in the municipality of Lisbon, so that establishments considered as convenience stores and selling alcoholic beverages close at 22:00, and the opening hours of the terraces now differ from the opening hours of establishments with a limit to 24:00.

“Anything that limits what is there is positive, so it is positive that the new regulation will tighten the schedules. […]. Now I more than just want to see measures announced and publicized, I want existing measures to be enforced. I have been asking for more than two years that this decree be implemented 100%, that the urbanization plan of Bairro Alto and Bica be implemented 100%,” said the mayor.

Junta President da Misericordia defended “effective supervision with effective punishment” for erring institutions, saying announcing regulatory improvements without applying existing rules “is a trifle.”

“This area is a powder keg and nothing is being done to remove the fuel from this powder. […] “I am fighting to reduce alcohol consumption on the street, to reduce alcohol consumption in establishments, to not only improve the quality of life of those who live here, but also to provide greater safety, because many of the current safety problems are caused by excessive alcohol consumption,” he warned. He.

According to the mayor, the situation has worsened since the Covid-19 pandemic, when “many establishments” opened “in complete disregard” of the Bairro Alto and Biqui Urbanization Plan, which prohibits the opening of new bars.

Carla Madeira pointed out that under the zero licensing law, an establishment can open with a simple advance notification to the council, and said that there are those who report that “they are going to open a tea house, but then it will not function as a tea house.” house”.

“The council, having checked that this establishment is not a teahouse, is obliged to go there and close this establishment,” the mayor emphasized, noting that KML “did not exercise” this right to close establishments that do not meet the requirements, and by not doing this, you “You’re making the problem worse.”

According to the mayor, Rua da Atalaya in Bairro Alto is the place where “the greatest concentration of establishments committing malfeasance, establishments that operate after 23:00 with their doors open”, and this situation is “strongly condemned”, but “the Council decides exactly the opposite: decides to close this street to traffic on weekends, from 22:00 to 4:00,” allowing people to “drink freely” on public roads.