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Imagen de unas teclas de maquina de escribir antigua.

Special ordinance concerning the cleanness and decoration

of the town during the festival of Corpus Christi

Chapter I: General Provisions.

Article 1.- 

  1. 1. The present ordinance is issued by virtue of the powers conferred by article 4.1 a) of the Basic Local Government Act and by article 10 of the Urban Discipline Regulations.
  2. The content of this ordinance is fundamentally a summary of the customs kept alive by the residents of the Town during the celebration of the festival of Corpus Christi. A number of new measures of a disciplinary nature, which previously have not been necessary, have been added to these customs; other measures, considered advisable in this new era, have likewise been added in order to preserve the continuity and purity of the celebration.

Article 2 .- Due to its concerning coexistence-related and also technical aspects, the nature of this ordinance is that of an “Urban Police Ordinance”, not linked to any specific guidelines, and it may exist alone regardless of the Plans or Subsidiary Planning Bylaws.

Article 3 .-

  1. For the purposes of this ordinance, those constructions (homes or commercial establishments) located on streets through which the Sacrament passes on the occasion of the festival of Corpus Christi, or in the vicinity of said streets, shall be considered buildings of the precinct.
  2. As an addendum to the present ordinance, a detailed list of the buildings of the precinct is approved. Said list likewise specifies the minimum number of bundles of branches that each building must set up.

Article 4- “Decoration” shall be understood to be the covering of all the façades of the building with bundles of branches and flowers, and also the covering of the street of the precinct faced by the building with fresh sedge.

CHAPTER II: Concerning the decoration of the precinct.

Article 5 .-

  1. The owners of buildings located in the precinct are required to decorate their façade and their street, under the terms foreseen in this ordinance. Subsidiarily, the tenants thereof are required to do so.
  2. All expenses incurred in the decoration of privately-owned buildings shall be met by their owner or owners. The removal of all the decorations of the Town shall be undertaken by personnel engaged by the Town Council.

Article 6 .-

  1. The decoration of the façades shall entail their total covering with bundles of branches up to a minimum height of three metres, including windows, balconies and railings, with the exception of the space corresponding to the main door of the house or commercial establishment in question. If possible, the branches shall be adorned with oleander, retama or other wild flowers of the varieties traditionally employed.
  2. The decoration of the street shall consist of the total covering thereof with fresh sedge. This obligation concerns the owners, and shall comprise the entire length of their façade and half the width of the street, up to the point where the neighbours living opposite cover in turn the other half of the width of the street. The central areas of the squares will be covered by Town Council personnel.

Article 7 .-

  1. A bundle of branches is comprised of a minimum of five branches or sticks, plus five small twigs to be placed at the lower part of the sticks. The branches shall have a minimum height of three metres.
  2. The branches shall be of eucalyptus, poplar, ash, or of other tree species not adversely affected in any way by pruning at this time of year. The pruning shall always be formative, or the removal of low branches, unless it concerns trees that must be felled for other reasons, and whose felling has been voluntarily delayed until this date and for this purpose.

Article 8 .-

  1. The setting-up of sedge and branches shall commence at dawn and shall be completed by 10:30 a.m. on the day of Corpus.
  2. The removal of the decorations shall commence at 7:00 a.m. on the second day after the day of Corpus, and shall be executed in its entirety by personnel engaged by the Town Council.

Imagen de un paisano de la villa de Zahara preparando la juncia.

CHAPTER III: Other citizen coexistence measures.

Article 9 .-

  1. The positioning of tables, empty drinks crates, beer kegs, price lists, temporary bar tops and any other item of like nature is expressly prohibited, in the absence of authorisation by the Council, processed sufficiently in advance.
  2. The positioning of tables and chairs for lucrative purposes by the bars shall be carried out subsequent to the passage of the procession, and any drinking in the streets shall be avoided until after the passage of the Sacrament.
  3. The bars and other commercial establishments shall in particular ensure that rubbish and goods are located away from public view, and that the former is enclosed in bags in order to prevent unpleasant smells.
  4. Traders shall ensure that any supplies they may require are in their establishments on the day before. If, due to a greater consumption than that expected, it should be necessary to re-stock, they shall endeavour to carry out this work at times when the influx of people in the streets is less.

Article 10.-Visitors and natives of the Town shall behave respectfully with regard to the Sacrament and the altars erected along the route.

Article 11.- The branches, the sedge, the altars and the remainder of the traditional decorative elements of the Town shall be respected during the festival. Behaviour resulting in any damage caused will be sanctioned in accordance with the provisions of the following chapter.

Article 12.- The parking of motor vehicles in calle Alta, calle Ronda, calle San Juan, Zahara Square and San Juan Square will be prohibited as from 11:00 a.m. on the day before Corpus. The aforementioned streets and squares will be closed to wheeled traffic as from 10:00 p.m. on the same day.

Article 13.- The residents of the Town shall endeavour to park their vehicles in their garages or in the less accessible places, so that the public car parks and other places that are more easily accessible to wheeled traffic may be used by those who visit us during these days.

Article 14.- Before 11:00 a.m. on the day of the festival, or at the request of any resident, accompanied by the corresponding Town police report, the Mayor will issue a ruling indicating the differences existing between the decorations of the different buildings, and requiring that the necessary measures be taken to rectify them. Said ruling shall be communicated immediately to the owners responsible, who shall be given a hearing in the presence of the Town police, who will issue a new report. Should this notification not be possible, or in the event of a refusal to rectify the shortcomings, the measures required by the Mayor shall be executed immediately by Town Council personnel.

Article 15.- As soon as possible, during the following days, the corresponding sanction proceedings will be instituted. The ruling by the Town Hall instituting the proceedings will describe the events occurred, assessing the cost of the work carried out at the expense of the Town Council, and will be served to the interested party, granting ten days’ notice, in order that he may examine the dossier submitted and plead as appropriate. The dossier will contain the reports issued by the Town police. On conclusion of the period of appeal, the Mayor shall issue a new ruling, either shelving the dossier or imposing the corresponding sanction and declaring the costs incurred as the responsibility of the individual. On conclusion of the period of voluntary settlement, the total debt shall be levied through summary proceedings.

Article 16.- 

  1. The sanctions that may be levied by the Town Hall are as follows:
    • Failure to decorate the façade: 150€
    • Failure to decorate the façade as specified in this ordinance (placing fewer or smaller branches, etc.): 90€
    • Failure to complete the decorations before 10:30 a.m.: 30€
    • Deliberately throwing branches to the ground, causing them to fall, or causing any damage to the altars: 60€
    • Improper placing of tables, chairs, etc.: 30€
    • Improper disposal of rubbish: 30€
  2. The Town Hall, with the aid of the Town police and of as many engaged personnel as may be necessary, shall effectively and immediately restore the order of things that has been violated, regardless of any sanction that may correspond in each case.

CHAPTER V: Appeals

Article 17.- Appeals may be lodged against the ruling of the Town Hall before the corresponding Chamber of the Regional Magistrate’s Court, within a period of two months of the notification thereof, and optionally, an appeal for reconsideration may be lodged before the Town Hall, within a period of one month.

FINAL PROVISION.

The present Ordinance, consisting of 17 articles, one final provision and an Annex or list of residents, shall enter into effect once definitively approved by the Town Council and published in its entirety in the Official Gazette of the Province of Cadiz, on conclusion of the period foreseen in article 65.2 of Law 7/1985, of 2nd April.