The Municipality of Vila Nova de Famalicão is implementing a new system to control market traders' access to the weekly market grounds.
From 4 March, only market traders who comply with the municipal regulations for selling in this space will be allowed to occupy sales spaces at the Famalicão Market, namely, compliance with the payment of occupancy fees, no debts from previous years or an agreement to pay outstanding amounts, respect for the allocated sales space limit and collection of waste produced, leaving the site clean at the end of the market day.
The councillor responsible for Markets and Fairs, Augusto Lima, explained the measures to market traders on Wednesday, 28 January. At the start of another market day, the councillor visited all the stalls, alerting and raising awareness among traders about compliance with the rules. ‘The aim is to raise awareness among market traders so that they comply with municipal regulations and to publicise this set of rules which, from the contact we have had, are accepted by everyone,’ explained Augusto Lima.
The measures will come into force on 4 March and the municipality will closely monitor compliance with the rules. ‘This action is educational, but we will demand compliance with the rules, because we are certain that the implementation of this new system will benefit everyone, especially those who sell and come to buy, putting all market traders on an equal footing,’ he added.
The awareness campaign was carried out with the support of the Association of Market Vendors of the District of Porto, Douro and Minho, with its president, Artur Andrade, stating that the measures to be implemented are the result of a dialogue established with the municipality and ‘are demanded by all market vendors, with everyone benefiting from the cleanliness and organisation of the space’.
It should be noted that entry to the premises would be via a card that will activate the barriers to access the market. The Municipality of Famalicão will provide access cards to traders who have their situation duly regularised by 15 February. The cards can be collected from the Municipal Market's administrative services between 23 and 27 February, from 9h00 to 18h00.
