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Palma City Council has stepped up its crackdown on street vending ahead of the start of the tourist season, with increased patrols and the planning of specific measures to tackle these practices. Furthermore, tourists in Palma are facing potential fines of 85 to 600 euros for purchasing goods from unlicensed street vendors.
This was announced on Friday by the Councillor for Public Safety and Civic Behaviour, Llorenç Bauzá, during the launch of the campaign ‘We all pay for what you buy that’s fake’, which targets unlicensed sales in public spaces. Bauzá stated that the council’s approach combines enforcement with a “preventive and deterrent” strategy, aiming to anticipate such behaviour and reduce the presence of street vending on the streets.
He added that operations are already underway in areas of Palma such as Antoni Maura, Plaza Major, San Miquel and Playa de Palma. He explained that between June and September 2025, around 1,300 enforcement actions relating to street vending were carried out, and 31 fines were issued to buyers. The councillor argued that the civic by-law does not seek to restrict, but rather to ‘protect public space, coexistence and respect for the environment’, and emphasised the council’s support for local businesses that comply with the regulations.
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In addition to the council, the campaign involves the Association of Small and Medium-sized Businesses of Mallorca (Pimeco), the Federation of Business Owners (Afedeco), the Palma Hotel Association (Ashpama), CAEB Catering and the Association of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (Pimem).
Furthermore, they have indicated that 6,000 copies of an information leaflet printed in several languages – Catalan, Spanish, English and German – will be distributed in hotels, employers’ associations and municipal administration buildings. The president of Afedeco, Pedro Miró, emphasised the importance of raising awareness among the public – both locals and tourists – about shopping at small businesses. “We don’t sell counterfeit goods, we sell genuine goods, we pay our taxes and, therefore, we need the public to come to our shops,” he stressed.
Representatives of the trade associations have stated that practices such as illegal street vending affect between 20 and 30 per cent of their profits during the tourist season, although they have pointed out that this figure is approximate, as it is difficult to put an exact figure on it. Furthermore, they have pointed out that the real problem is the insecurity that the sale of unlicensed goods creates among shop owners in Palma.
