Mayor of Porto guarantees rules for souvenir shops

O mayor of Porto, Pedro Duarte, today advanced that there will be rules for the stores of ‘souvenirs’ with the same principles of containment policies for the Local Accommodation (AL).

In statements to Lusa in the context of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Brasilia shopping mall, the mayor of Porto confirmed that he is in talks with the government so that the legislation enables the municipal councils to have “a word to say about the use of commercial spaces”, namely the so-called ‘souvenirs’ or ‘refused’ shops.

“ We have the prospect and we have talked to the government in order to have legislation that enables municipal councils, particularly in more historical areas, to have a say about the use that is given, namely to commercial spaces, precisely to avoid the massification that we have seen from stores called souvenir shops, which basically sell magnets and material that does not actually contribute to an identity that we want in the city itself,” he said.

Pedro Duarte added that the municipalities do not currently have this possibility of regulating commercial stores, particularly in the historical hundreds.

“ We made this request to the government so that we could have that answer. “We have to talk to the government in the final solution. So we have very good expectations and many perspectives. First it will be the government that will have to legislate, which is national legislation. It does not depend on me, but I have the expectation that it will be in the short term, for then we, in the House, according to the law, can start making decisions ", asserted the mayor.

Asked by Lusa if the rules will have the rules similar to those of the Local Accommodation, the mayor said yes, that would be “that would be the principle”.