The unpunished, massive and daily sale of laughing gas in calle Santa Agnès, the nerve center of the West End of Sant Antoni, as well as the filth that nightlife generates on this public road are issues that according to Joan Torres, Proposta per les Illes (Pi) councilman and first deputy mayor of the Corporation, must be addressed immediately. Torres, who for this article stresses that he speaks “as the spokesman of the municipal group Pi”, believes that “sending inspectors from the Govern and Guardia Civil to West End is not urgent, it’s an emergency”. He believes that these measures are necessary “to see results there”.
In this sense, Torres recalls that West End is affected by the Decree against Excess Tourism by the Govern, January 2020: “The Balearic Executive guaranteed us that it would help us to control West End with tourism, health, consumption and trade inspectors to detect everything included in the decree. We need the support of the Govern, but as of today…”. Article 10 of the Decree against Excess Tourism refers to the creation of a commission for the promotion of civic behavior in tourist areas, a collegiate body that aims to monitor and coordinate the measures set out in the Decree Law and would be composed of a representative of each of the competent ministries in tourism, health, consumer and trade, and a representative of the city council: “But so far it has not been launched. We must give it a boost,” says Torres, who also calls for more Guardia Civil officers because the Policía Local is not “enough,” he says, to serve the entire municipality.
“The Balearic Executive guaranteed us that it would help us to control West End with tourism, health, consumption and trade inspectors to detect everything that included in the decree. We need the support of the Govern, but today…”
Torres also believes that “immediate precautionary measures should be applied to licensees who do not comply with the regulations”, for example, if their spaces sell nitrous oxide: “It should be possible as a preliminary measure to immediately withdraw the license of anyone with a terrace who is carrying out illegal activity on it”.
In this regard he recalls that paragraph 16 of Article 42 of the ordinance of coexistence of Sant Antoni expressly prohibits, “in the street and public spaces, the sale, promotion, advertising or facilitate access to nitrous oxide gas (N2O), known as laughing gas, as well as its consumption, or any type of gas or similar substance that, although they may not be determined as drugs, can cause disparate effects when consumed by humans, except in legally authorized cases. In any case, the street sale of this gas is forbidden”. Calle Santa Agnès in West End, next to the promenade of s’Arenal and ses Variades has become a mecca for the sale of this product, which in cooking is used to whip cream. Its sale, according to the ordinance, carries fines of 750 to 3,000 euros, depending on the severity.
“It should be possible as a preliminary measure to immediately withdraw the license of anyone with a terrace who is carrying out illegal activity on it”
Precisely, the ordinance of occupation of the public road, notes the Pi spokesman (and first deputy mayor), states in Article 9 that may “revoke the licenses to occupy the public road when it encourages the promotion of illegal activities, prohibited or not allowed on public roads, duly reported by the Policía Local or municipal technicians”. The mayor stresses that the owners of terraces “have the obligation to control them with guards to prevent the sale of laughing gas and hawking”, being “a space granted on a public road”.
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