Rua da Galeria de Paris, Porto
After this hour, only coffees, bars, restaurants and nightclubs can sell alcohol. Outside, supermarkets, convenience stores, souvenirs or wine cellars. First night with a rule in force already provides exception.
The new rules of Porto’s regulation come into force next Wednesday and the sale of alcohol for consumption on the public road is prohibited to be prohibited Between AS 9:00 pm AS 08:00 all over the city.
The one that is the third change to the regulation that came into force on March 1, 2023, published this Friday in Diário da República, also includes the widening of the call Containment zonewhich will cover virtually the entire downtown of Porto.
In this area, the sale of alcoholic beverages after 9 pm is only authorized in cafes, bars, restaurants and nightclubs. Outside are establishments such as supermarkets, convenience stores, souvenirs or wine cellars.
Still in the containment zone, the terraces now have limitation of scheduleshowever, there are some flexibility instruments at the time in the terraces of the three zones of Movida (nucleus of the moved, protected zone and containment zone).
“What justifies this is our conviction that this in various sites of the city is harming, impacting the level of urban security,” the councilwoman of economic activities and inspection told Lusa.
“Very tight” inspection, “heavy” sanctions
Filipa Correia Pinto has ensured that there will be “very tight” inspection with “heavy” sanctions, to “strengthen the sense of security of people and to ensure the organization of public space”.
Another “significant” change is, according to the mayor, the revision of the sanctioning framing that applies to the violation of the rules of the regulation, with the introduction of a precautionary closing mechanism of the establishment.
In “certain circumstances, and duly justified”, the supervisory bodies may “immediately end an establishment that is not fulfilledwith impact on the safety and comfort of those who go to the site, ”he explained, adding to be, as an accessory sanction, the temporary closure.
“What we noticed is that the successive application of the fines do not dissuade economic agents to continue to infringe, because the payment of the fine was due, because it was low fines,” he added. In addition, economic agents who have a record of convictions for infringements will fail to access the extending times.
According to the mayor, an awareness campaign is planned on the new rules to be implemented in the coming days, believing that these changes satisfy not only residents but also economic agents, “and will surely improve the quality of the night.”
The regulation should come into force on the first business day to its publication, ie Monday June 23but this date, the eve of the holiday of St. John, is precisely one of the two expected exceptions (the other is on the night from December 31 to January 1).
The changes to the regulation are justified, according to DR, with “adaptation to the new reality and phenomena that, however, have spread and that lead to the risk not only to decharacterize the zone of the move, but to disqualify an ecosystem that, if well regulated and well managed, can be a distinctive brand and factor of development of the city”.
They were in public consultation between April 9 and May 23 and the result was approved at a chamber meeting on June 2.
