Prague wants to reduce alcohol in public by decree. The changes are also to affect the embankments – ČT24 – Czech Television
People who live near the embankment in Prague have been complaining about loud music or the screams of drunk people for a long time. But the police can’t do anything about it. “When the city or state police arrived on the basis of complaints, dozens of phone calls during each night, they had no legal instrument,” said Prague councilor Jan Chabr (TOP 09).
Tools for police officers could now be just drinking alcohol on the embankments, which would apply from midnight. However, they often visit the capital’s places, they do not agree and despite the fact that it is not an all-day ban, as is the case with hundreds of the capital. In Prague 1 alone, there are fifty streets or spaces, including Wenceslas Square.
The police can now only punish those who see the drink directly. From July, the municipality also wants to stipulate staying in public with an open bottle or other container as a misdemeanor. However, according to Deputy Jan Hora (Pirates), the city police have exaggerated expectations from this news. “Even this principle can be circumvented to a large extent, which means that it will only work for a limited time, I personally think so one summer,” he said.
Prague 1 wanted a total ban
It is the Pirates who do not want to support the new decree, due to the increase in the number of places where alcohol will be banned in public. There will be almost fifty locations in the center of Prague, such as Charles Bridge and the Royal Route. The town hall of the first city district enforced a total ban from ten in the evening to six in the morning.
“We promised ourselves that we would be able to punish large organized groups of tourists who are heading to Prague not for sights, but for cheap alcohol, and who suddenly have 150 to 200 people drunk on the streets,” said the mayor of Prague 1, Petr Hejma. . (TENT). It is foreign tourists in the capital that are gaining ground again after two years, which is evident, for example, in boat and pedal boat rentals or in restaurant gardens.
However, the management rejected the blanket bans. In this way, restrictions will remain in the entire city in the 100-meter roundabout around playgrounds, schools, doctor’s offices and metro stations. It is then not possible to drink alcohol at tram and bus stops. However, the exception should continue to apply to restaurant gardens, the immediate vicinity of food stalls, cultural events, as well as New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Eve celebrations.
Other cities also limit alcohol
Apart from Prague, all regional cities also regulate alcohol consumption in public. For example, in Brno the year before, there was a general ban, but then the city eased the restrictions only to selected places. The circuit around the schools is not 100 meters like in Prague, but only twenty meters. The ban on drinking alcohol also applies to churches or cemeteries.
Even in Ostrava, drinking alcohol is not banned in public, but only in selected places. In addition to schools, this also applies to the area around supermarkets or the local skate park. Most restaurant gardens in Ostrava can be open until ten in the evening, but Stodolní Street has an exception.
One hundred thousand Olomouc banned the drinking of alcohol from the public, among other things, in the entire city monument reserve as early as 2012. “The exceptions are the Upper and Lower Squares, where a number of events take place. However, their organizers have to ask for advice again so that they can visit alcohol. The ban does not apply to guests in the restaurant’s gardens, “said Petra Klimková, editor of the Czech Television.
Pilsen has had a new decree since May this year, which has issued a blanket ban for the wider center. Restrictions around schools or platforms and stops are set at fifty meters. Český Krumlov and Znojmo are also prohibited from drinking alcohol in some places. On the contrary, the rules for quiet at night are enough for Mikulov or Třeboň.