Rui Moreira warns of the need for municipalities to regulate economic activities – Politics

The president of the Porto City Council, Rui Moreira, warned this Monday of the need for municipalities to be able to regulate the economic activities that arise in the city, advocating, to this end, a legislative change.

According to the independent, municipalities “must have some hand and be able to regulate” the economic activities that are emerging and closing in the city, even to maintain the authenticity and diversity of businesses.

Because, he considered, without this control the city “cannot plan or plan”.

Rui Moreira highlighted that, many times, residents “call the council’s attention” for businesses that open and close thinking they have the capacity to intervene, but they don’t.

And, in this regard, the mayor gave the example of Mercearia do Bolhão, a store with 144 years of activity in downtown Porto that will close on Tuesday to make way for a store belonging to the Spanish chain Ale-Hop, a situation that caused that people would be indignant at the camera because they think it has instruments that, in fact, it doesn’t.

Moreira also pointed out that residents do not understand why the council does not interfere in the fixing of souvenir shops that “are invading the city at a dizzying speed”.

Residents demand control from the local authority, the local authority understands their concerns, but has no mechanisms to interfere, he reinforced.

“There needs to be a legislative change that allows, in fact, planning in commercial activities”, he reinforced.

If municipalities could have any regulatory role in this matter, “they might not open” so many supermarkets or souvenir shops around the city, he stressed.

This is also a way of decentralizing powers to municipalities, he pointed out.

That’s why the independent movement “Rui Moreira: Aqui Há Porto” will present, tonight, at the Porto Municipal Assembly, a recommendation for greater regulation of the Licensing of Economic Activities by Municipalities, he said.

The recommendation, to which Lusa had access, insists on empowering municipalities to regulate changes in activity, ensuring the diversity of economic activities.

Furthermore, it defends the regulation of the granting, monitoring and revocation of economic activity licenses, ensuring effective control.

In the recommendation, the “Rui Moreira: Aqui Há Porto” movement also calls for expanding the regulatory capacity of municipalities to cover not only commerce, restaurants and hotels, but also new tourist activities and urban logistics.