The City Council of Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, has announced a plan to combat the negative effects of mass tourism, which includes a ban on marijuana consumption in public spaces starting in mid-May, as well as limited opening hours for restaurants and prostitution venues.
The ban on smoking in the street seeks to address the continuous and increasingly abundant criticism from residents. «If the nuisance does not diminish sufficiently, we will investigate whether we can ban smoking on the terraces of coffee shops,» the capital authorities warned in a statement.
Likewise, the City Council has informed that the hourly limitation to restaurants and prostitution premises will be applied during weekends, at the same time that a timetable is set for the prohibition of alcoholic beverage sales, as well as consumption in public streets, for which «measures will be taken against street vendors».
«These proposed measures in the Red Light District should further counteract the enormous nuisance, especially at night,» said the Amsterdam City Council, which added that the new regulations for the capital’s renowned district also include limiting one-way traffic and the possibility of closing the streets of the Red Light District «during peak periods.»
«The residents of the Old Town suffer greatly from mass tourism and the abuse of alcohol and drugs in the streets. Tourists also attract street vendors who in turn cause crime and insecurity,» has argued the Amsterdam City Council, which also argues that «residents cannot sleep well and the neighborhood becomes unsafe and uninhabitable.»
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
