A public parking space located in the city of Funchal was allegedly blocked today, Tuesday, the 15th of July, by a group of tourists.
The situation ended up generating a scene with several passers-by intervening with the aim of freeing the parking space.
In a post on the Facebook social network group ‘Occurrences Madeira’, a popular woman reports what happened, noting that passers-by prevented a ‘rent-a-car’ from parking. “The spell has been turned against the sorcerer,” can be read in a publication that brings together dozens of reactions condemning people trying to reserve parking spaces.
On Facebook, this was written:
Tourism at its best !!! But this time they were wrong !! When the “tourist” car arrived, the tourists moved out of the way to allow them to park, but instead of pulling in, the driver was prevented as a group of Madeirans jumped into the empty spot, preventing the holidaymakers from parking.
This is not an isolated case. At the beginning of the month, a similar situation happened in the public car park at Praia Formosa. Tempers ran so high that the Public Security Police were called in to intervene.
DIÁRIO, in its ‘Fact Check’ section, confirmed that the Highway Code defines that “the reservation of parking spaces on public roads, in any way, without authorisation from the competent authority is not allowed. Backing this up, the Regional Command of the Public Security Police warned that reserving a car parking space on a public road is strictly prohibited, and those found doing so can be fined €300 per person.
The tourists were finally forced to leave while being booed by the crowd.
A small victory for the people who live here.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
