Move to overturn Punta Ballena party strip shutdown order defeated

A POPULAR Party motion to get Calvia council to urge the Balearic government to change its mind on the shutdown of the Punta Ballena party strip and two other Magaluf streets was defeated.
The votes of the council governing team made up of the left-leaning PSOE and Podem-Mes parties prevented the proposal from moving forward last week’s plenary meeting.
The motion aimed at trying to bring about a reverse of the Balearic administration’s decision to shut down leisure outlets on the three streets and set out a plan for police action in the most troublesome areas of the municipality did however had the support of members of the centrist Ciudadanos and the far-right Vox party.
PP spokeswoman Luisa Jimenez had argued that the kind of fights and rowdy behaviour seen on Punta Ballena and on other streets earlier in July, images of which were posted all over social media, were the responsibility of the security forces and not the businesses.
She described the shutdown introduced on July 15 as “hasty, discriminatory and not very effective”, and maintained it had simply pushed this kind of behaviour by tourists to other areas of the locality.
But Deputy Mayor Natividad Frances stuck by the measure.
She agreed it had been “tough” move and that there was “collateral damage”, but insisted “we are talking about public health.”