SATURDAY,
APRIL 30, 2022 - 09:03
Alcohol sales ban in Amsterdam Red Light District
extended to prevent nuisance
The alcohol
sales ban in the Amsterdam Red Light District will be extended to prevent
crowds and nuisance in the area. Terrace extensions on a large part of
Burgwallen-Oude Zijde and the entire Nieuwmarkt will also be taken away, and
there will be more crowd control and measures taken against street deals.
Amsterdam
Mayor Femke Halsema, alderman for Economic Affairs Egbert de Vries and the
deputy chair of the city center Micha Mos announced this in a letter to the
city council. The alcohol sales ban will come into effect on May 6 and will
apply on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 4 p.m. for retail
outlets, snack bars and liquor stores, but not for catering. The same ban has
already been in place from 10 p.m. on these days.
In addition
to the measures that were announced, the city council is preparing additional
changes. If the situation calls for it, the alcohol sales ban can be extended
or closing times on weekends reduced to 3 a.m. or 2 a.m., or after a certain
time no visitors will be allowed in catering establishments. Consideration is
also being given to closing off access to the area at peak times and targeting
visitor numbers to 70 percent of the pre-coronavirus levels, perhaps even by
installing revolving gates.
The
temporary terrace extensions were allowed to accommodate catering entrepreneurs
during coronavirus times. Now the permits, which actually ran until the end of
October, will be withdrawn on May 6 because "with the start of the summer
season and the return of tourist pressure, accessibility, quality of life and
public space are coming under pressure."
Effective
immediately, the municipality will do more to manage crowds by deploying hosts
who guide visitor flows in the right direction. There will also be one-way
traffic in various alleys and on the Oudezijds Achterburgwal.
The city is
taking the extra measures because the crowds of tourists within the popular
area are returning even faster than expected. For example, visitor numbers and
nuisance reports during the Easter weekend were comparable to the period before
coronavirus, when tourism within the district peaked. "We consider the
announced measures necessary to improve the situation in the short term,"
the letter said.
Reporting by ANP.
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