Shops in the centre of Marbella will give away free one-hour parking tickets to their customers as part of an initiative promoted by the Association of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (Apymem), in collaboration with the City Council and with the assistance of public ‘parking’ within the area.
This campaign, which has been presented by the councilors of Commerce, Traffic and Transport and the Western District, Félix Romero, Enrique Rodríguez, and Remedios Bocanegra, respectively, as well as by the president of the collective, Enrique Guerrero, has the main objective of promoting reactivation of the local economy after the break due to the Covid-19 health crisis in which most shops were forced to close as part of the lock down.
“This is a historic initiative that responds to one of the main complaints by the shops” said Rodríguez. The initiative will offer up to 80% discount so that they can be delivered free of charge to their actual customer.
The mayor, who showed her appreciation of the work of Apymem, has encouraged other parking lots and local businesses to join the measure, This is the first in a series of projects that will be launched from the City Council to facilitate parking in the centre and other commercial environments. Not only will it help to energize the city but it will also guarantee that there are fewer emissions into the atmosphere with the reduction of vehicles circulating in a bid to find parking.
Romero went on to say “it gives life to the city with great courage and assuming many costs to return to normal. One hour of free parking for customers is an important initiative to promote the sector and facilitate the arrival of people in the centre of Marbella”.
Remedios Bocanegra has explained that this proposal started from the Western District because of the demand by merchants, hospitality businesses and offices, after a series of meetings were held over the last couple of months.
Guerrero has indicated that so far there are seven ‘car parks’ that have agreed to collaborate with this campaign but two more will be added shortly. The free parking initiative will initially last until 20th October. A list will be published detailing the car parks and parking areas on the website, while also explaining that a team from the association will visit establishments in the area to encourage all businesses to join this initiative.
