“Ridiculous and discriminatory” are some of the more polite descriptions of Loulé council’s insistence that retailers and business people at the Bougainville Plaza and Quinta Shopping centers should pay for car parking throughout the summer months.
To make a point and gather more signatures for a petition against the parking charges, which act as a further tax on doing business in the Algarve, the traders had a party to celebrate the first day of the wintertime free parking period.
Fifty store owners, employees, customers and visitors from both shopping centres enjoyed a fun barbeque to celebrate a further period of ‘freedom from fees.’
The event was well supported and the the restaurants and bars in the shopping centre provided the food and drink as the music played.
The petition already has over 80 signatories all of whom use the car park as they have businesses to run. They complain of a ridiculous and discriminatory system that both damages local trade as people refuse to pay for the privilege of parking to go shopping and try to find a space in the overcrowded free section, often driving off in frustration while the section that leives a charge remains almost empty.
The traders want an all-year-round free parking policy to encourage trade and to reduce their costs of doing business in this prime Golden Triangle location. When the organisers have collected 200 signatures, the petition and a letter of complaint will be sent to Loulé council and its company in charge of collecting the fees, Global Concelho Loulé.
“We cannot continue forever penalising damaging tourism, which is the breadwinner for us in the Algarve” said an exasperated shop owner.
Loulé council has been making a good effort in recent months by involving its ratepayers in decisions concerning the redevelopment of its historic city centre, one rather ugly square and development projects for outlying parishes.
The economic case for free parking at the Golden Triangle shopping centres is a compelling one and the imposition of charges, however reasonable, simply irritates shoppers who may live in expensive properties or be on a high end holiday, but detest the feeling of being ripped off before having had a change to go shopping.
