Battle won, but not war

DENIA business-owners succeeded in temporarily halting plans to bar weekend traffic in Calle Marques de Campo.

The town hall decided last November that Denia’s main shopping street, which is also crammed with bars and restaurants, should close to traffic from 7pm on Fridays.  

Public Safety and Transport councillor Javier Scotto confirmed recently that following talks with owners, the weekend veto would be put on hold until after the holidays. The town hall did not want this to affect takings over the festive season, Scotto said.

Without specifying dates, the councillor announced that the town hall would for the moment revert to an earlier arrangement where Marques de Campo was closed to traffic on Saturday afternoons and all of Sunday.  

This would leave the road free for pedestrians and also give restaurants and bars more room for terrace tables, Scotto said.

Even Saturday closing at 2pm is not popular with businesses.  They claim that when this was introduced the number of people visiting the street fell by between 30 and 40 per cent.  This was reflected in turnover, shopkeepers and bar-owners complained.

Members of the ACE business-owners association agreed with pedestrianising Denia’s principal thoroughfare so long as requirements were met, its president Antonio Llopis emphasised.

Fundamental amongst these, Llopis said was “a critical mass of public and visitors” to justify the measure.