During the tenth International Congress of Nightlife that is taking place in Valencia, the mayor of Sant Josep, Vicent Roigspoke to La Voz de Ibiza about two hot potatoes of the municipality: the seals against music and the updating of the regulations regulations.
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In this context, Roig has justified the seals as “they are defending the music and quality”, in addition to advancing that work is being done on the preparation of a noise map .
“If there has been sealing of some music devices, it is precisely because there are also regulations. I am not saying that the regulations need to be complemented, I am not saying that they do not. But there are regulations and that is precisely why these seals have been made, because if they are sealed it is because they are not complied with. That is very clear,” he said.
As advanced by this media, Sant Josep has closed the season with 43 seals after 67 inspections..
According to Roig, “none of the claims that have been made have lifted the seal in any way other than through compliance with the regulations”.
“There has not been a trial, a jury, a complaint that has forced us to lift a seal. On the contrary. Although at a given time, there has even been a seal that has been stopped as a precautionary measure by a court, as soon as they were aware of the reality that was happening in this place, that precautionary measure has been lifted quickly. With which I believe that from the City Council is doing a good job,” he said.
For the mayor, the regulatory framework in force in the municipality “is a little more demanding than the state law could be. That is clear. But what we are very clear is that it does not subtract and what we must take into account is that there are many locals who have adapted. Large, small, all of them have adapted and we have to take that into account. That is precisely what proves that we have a living ordinance and that we have to keep reviewing it and that we have to keep on moving”.
A new regulation?
– The reality is also that we live in a hybrid, changing world in which, as the representative of the Costa de Barcelona Group explained, business evolves and the administration sometimes does not evolve at the same speed as required by these market dynamics and the creation of new products in new segments, at new times.
– We must have compatibility with the resident. We must have sustainability in our actions and we must have a view and beacons looking into the distance. What cannot be done, and it has also been said at the table, is to open without investing. If we open we must invest and if we invest we have the perfect examples of premises that are at the door and even seem to be closed. Why? Because not even the slightest note of music comes out.
– What about seals?
– It does not mean that having those seals means that music is being attacked. On the contrary, music is being defended, the quality of the service is being defended. And we are also defending the quality of the resident’s rest and the compatibility between the activities and our neighbors. Why? We must be realistic and we must be aware of the double reality that we have. On the one hand, that we have that music, that there is that music, that there is that offer; and on the other hand, that we have a resident whom we must respect.
Compatibility must be our goal and we are working on it. And proof of this are precisely many of these renowned venues that have invested and have been exemplary precisely in everything related to acoustics and sound. This summer, for example, there has not been the slightest problem in the big venues. Of those premises that have invested, big and small, because there has been a small one in Playa d’en Bossa that has invested almost a million euros and has not had the slightest problem. The question is to do things well. And if we want to have music we have to adapt to the regulations that govern to be able to have music. And if we want to have entertainment, then we have entertainment, not the slightest problem. We have had almost 2,000 concerts this summer under the umbrella of Sant Josep Música. Are we against music? No, we are against those who do it badly.
– With this discourse, which I dare to describe as self-indulgent, there is no regulatory change in sight.
– Complacent speech at all. It has been in some way a very important declaration of intentions that I believe that this is what we must have. We must protect precisely that industry which is tourism and to protect tourism is also to defend the resident. The two things must be made compatible.
Noise map
Roig also advanced in a commitment with the Leisure Association to make a noise map “to be able to have absolutely clear the areas, the limits and that this acoustic map contemplates everything”.
In any case, he warned that “it will also contemplate the areas that are environmentally protected, we have to take that into account. Because afterwards we have spaces that today maybe what they are doing right now is not the right thing to do and we have to take that into account. So there has to be some kind of regulatory modification, but with peace of mind and taking into account that the framework we have now is not completely incorrect, that some things have to be done and polished, complementing it with this noise map. And above all, listen, talk and communicate”.
In this line, Roig said that “today leisure is also local economy, because in the end our leisure also buys in the stores, in the distribution lines, buys in the local market and that is also important. It creates wealth and that is also important and must be taken into account. So what we always have to take is that line of balance that is so difficult, but that we have to be somehow brave, execute it and take it into account”.
The work of the Local Police
The mayor explained that the body of the Local Police, composed of 70 members, “leaves body and soul to defend the safety of the municipality. It is not easy, I repeat, there are 70 local police officers who are defending a municipality where at peak times we can have up to 30,000 people in a single space, which tells us that throughout the municipality we can get to have between residents and visitors, we are bordering the 100,000 people at a time at any given time between 7 pm and 3 am, which is where we make more effort to have police on the street.”
In this sense, he valued that “the work they do is absolutely impeccable and what we must do is to give them the tools to perfect this work. And what we have to do is to have the tools to be able to perfect that work”.
Roig said that “whoever makes it pays, I am very clear and we have always said it. If you have a restaurant, you have a restaurant, you don’t have a discotheque. And if you have a discotheque, you have a discotheque, you do not have a restaurant. That is to say, this is like that. Each one has to take care of its license”.
“The problem is that order has not always existed in our municipality. And the problem is when order is put in place that then happens what happens. That we have in one summer almost around 40 seals because the regulations are not complied with. Plain and simple,” he said.
Beach clubs
– What about the hot potato of beach clubs, which has also been put on the table because it is difficult to fit into the current legislation or the tourism legislation?
– It is an issue that I really believe that today in Ibiza is not on the table, mostly because there is no regulatory framework. There is no regulatory framework that tells us what should be a beach club or not, what should be a restaurant with a certain category and that also uses local products.
– I was referring to whether the ordinance, apart from the map, can contemplate them.
– We cannot regulate an activity that does not exist. There are bars, cafeterias, leisure premises in terms of what would be a discotheque or such. That is to say, we are clear about that. We have to be clear that we are governed within the regulatory framework and we cannot regulate an activity that does not exist, but we do have the possibility of taking into account that we have restaurants that have a gastronomic offer of five forks, that also use a local product, that also have a number of waiters above the average number of tables or diners, that also have a very rich offer as regards what would be wine lists, etc. That is to say, that is what we have to take into account and, I repeat, if we want to have an added value which is musical entertainment, then let us do what we have to do in order to have that musical entertainment, nothing else.
Many of these beach clubs have been and are being adapted, so I believe that the regulatory framework is correct. I repeat, that it is necessary to polish, yes, that it is necessary to make this noise map, yes, but, be careful, that this noise map has to contemplate the regulations at a general level.
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