New rules for Malaga Feria will regulate drinking in the streets

Malaga city council wants to regulate the consumption of alcoholic beverages at the Feria. The municipal government team has begun to process a new ordinance to regulate all future Ferias in August. Among the main new features will be the regulation of the so-called 'botellón' - the Spanish version of bringing your own bottle to drink in public, holding an impromptu street party or binge-drinking.

According to the draft of the ordinance, which is currently subject to public scrutiny prior to its final approval, the consumption of alcoholic beverages will be generally prohibited in both the historic centre and in the Real de Cortijo de Torres, although the government team reserves the right to define areas where it will be possible to consume alcoholic beverages in public.

Article 5 states that such consumption "will be prohibited outside the [licensed] establishments, the areas adjacent to them, and on the public roads where the Feria is held when any of the behaviours prohibited by the Ordinance on Citizen Coexistence and the Protection of Urban Space in the City of Malaga are committed."

The reference to coexistence in the ordinance is key to understanding this article of law, as it opens the door to authorising alcohol consumption in specific areas (where it states that consumption is prohibited "outside the areas that the city council has established as permitted on the occasion of the celebration of festivals and patron saint or popular fairs").

The ordinance that is currently being processed specifies in much more detail what can and cannot be done at the fair and will replace the current set of rules, which has been in force since July 2018. This article also prohibits local food and drinks places from selling alcohol for consumption outside their establishments and from alcohol being present at mobile trucks (something that has been the norm until this year).

The draft of the regulation differentiates between the activity in the historic city centre and in the Cortijo de Torres area. In reference to the former, it goes into the obligation to respect the set times in order to guarantee some peace and quiet - and sleep - for local residents. In this sense, it points out that "artistic performances, such as mime, music, painting and similar that are intended to take place on the public highway must be carried out within the timetables established in this ordinance." The schedule, it adds, will be determined in each case by the 'Junta de Gobierno Local' (the mayor and his executive team, like a municipal cabinet).

The concession of booths will be granted on an annual basis and interested parties will be able to submit their applications between 1 February and 1 March each year. The future ordinance will eliminate the possibility of converting the booths into fixed stands, as was possible under the 2018 regulation. Interested parties must provide a list of the company's staff and the material and technical means at their disposal.

In the case of any business wanting to pitch for one of the booths at the Feria, a plan of activities to be carried out must be added, as well as stating the quality and variety of the services offered (style, type of musical groups, types of meals and so on) and the type of public, age and groups of users targeted by the activity and services to be carried out must be determined.

In an attempt to control the type of people entering these stands, those in charge of each may prohibit access to people wearing beachwear, such as swimming costumes or flip-flops, or to people wearing sportswear (skimpy shorts and trainers), or to people accompanied by animals, except for special assistance dogs.

As for the horse riders, the city council plans to reduce the time that they can stay in the streets of the Real de Cortijo de Torres. The horse and carriage rides will take place from 12noon to 7.30pm, with the aim that everything will be completely clean and clear by 8pm.