If the street vendors rejoice, this is not the case for the activities in the area: “No one from the Municipality asked us”
VITERBO – “No one from the Municipality asked us,” This is how the traders respond to the green light for the move of the market to Piazza della Rocca decided by the municipal administration, for which the street vendors, “exiled” for four years in the Carmine district, rejoiced.
The merchants of Piazza della Rocca and surrounding streets affected by over a year of renovation work have already been subjected to many sacrifices, and now “this defeat too”.
“Five shops in the area have already lowered their shutters during the Pnrr works, now all we need is the Saturday market. Already in the 1990s the market in Piazza della Rocca had created problems and was therefore moved“. One of them begins.
“In normal life it is already difficult to find a place, also because several car parks have been removed, such as those in via Matteotti and the Trinità, let alone with the market. It will be a remission for everyone: street vendors, commercial activities and residents. The car parks closest to the square will be occupied in the evening by those who live in the area and in the early morning by us traders who have to open, so for those who want to go to the market the most inconvenient ones will remain, and I wonder how many will be willing to park as far away as at the Shrine . The presence of the few who live in the area will not be enough to satisfy the daily income“.
Yet in April 2023 the new solution was tested, chosen by the administration to: centrality, digitalisation of the neighbourhood, proximity to services, against the absence of parking and surrounding traffic.
“The test day was spoiled by bad weather, it was raining cats and dogs and in any case after that day no one from the municipality bothered to listen to us to find out how it went. Here the entire area will be penalized. In the experiment carried out in April, among other things, there were no stalls in front of the commercial activities which have now been added. The administration had chosen not to occupy the seats in front of the shops because they were completely darkened in addition to the difficulty of entry due to the stalls next to each other, but now the situation has changed. Some of us are even thinking about not raising the shutters on Saturday morning. The only solution is to return to the Shrine, the municipality will not make money on parking for those few hours. On the other hand, we have been making sacrifices for more than a yearthe”.
Viterbo – Gregori (Anva): “The Saturday market inside the walls will make everyone agree”
