Amovate has decided to resume the monthly Car Boot Sale at The Old School House from Sunday July 7^th, on a trial basis. On this day, the gates will open at 9:00 am for stall holders.

But as we move forward we will be turning the clock back to the original concept of the Car Boot, accurately described thus in an American travel brochure:

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According to ‘The American’s Guide to Speaking British’

Car boot sale – This has nothing to do with the boots you wear on your feet. A boot sale is where hundreds of people descend on a field with cars full of unwanted wedding presents, clothes and other junk.

A car boot sale gets its name from the way goods are sold out of the back of a car. Car boot sales are often but not exclusively held in the grounds of schools and other community buildings, or in grassed fields or car parks

Usually the items are unpacked onto folding trestle tables, a blanket or tarpaulin, or the ground. Entry to the general public is usually free, although sometimes a small admission charge is made.

Although a small proportion of sellers are professional traders selling goods, or indeed browsing for items to sell, the goods on sale are often used but no longer wanted personal possessions.

Car boot sales are a way of focusing a large group of people in one place to recycle still useful but unwanted domestic items that previously might have been thrown away.  These car boot sales are a mainly British form of market in which private individuals come together to sell household and garden goods.

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The Portuguese Government crackdown on tax avoidance is clearly intended to target anyone who sells goods at a higher price than they paid to buy them in the first place, or who sells items they make to sell on for profit

Sadly, in order to comply with these new Government legislations covering markets etc, we can no longer allow professional traders to pitch their stalls and sell their wares on Amovate property.

That means we can only permit access to those people selling their own unwanted goods in the original spirit of the car boot sale; i.e. (as the article above stipulates) unwanted domestic items that might previously have been thrown away but are now being sold for less than the price originally paid for them.

Nor can we allow access to anyone selling foodstuffs or fruit and vegetables as these almost certainly require separate licences and are subject to health and safety issues.

We believe that this decision to go back to the original Car Boot concept satisfies the spirit of the new legislation.

Hopefully it also falls in line with the anticipated decisions of a review apparently planned by the Government and tax authorities to address those parts of the legislation causing confusion in relation to such informal markets.

So, if you are planning a stall at Amovate on July 7 please make sure you comply with these requirements.

That way we should all enjoy a traditional, old-fashioned car boot sale…

In order to read our fascinating article, “Car Boot Sales—All You Needed To Know”, click here

to read Car Boot Rules & Regulations, click here

Last month (April) the Portuguese Government, desperately trying to maximise tax revenue as far as we can see, brought in new laws governing free markets; i.e car boot sales, flea markets, farmer’s markets etc.

And, as you would expect, wading through this new legislation is like getting bogged down in quicksand.

At the moment it’s pretty difficult to assess exactly what will be required of organisations like Amovate when holding such gatherings.

At our meeting with the Camara (apparently we were the first organisation to seek clarification of the new laws here in Aljezur) the only thing that became clear is that the Camara and the Finanças, faced with a pretty exhaustive rule book to absorb, haven’t yet been able to come up with clear and concise advice to everyone involved.

We do know that Amovate will have a responsibility to seek an annual licence from the Camara Municipal to hold the Car Boots, giving dates, times, details of the types of goods to be sold, a plan of the area where the market is going to take place etc.

The area must be organized in different sectors, each plot must be identified and delineated, the rules must be clearly visible, comfort infrastructures must exist: toilets, water supply, electricity, and there must be enough car parking spaces in the surrounding area.

(Basically, the plots need to be marked and there must be a different sector for each different type of goods to be sold—books in one area, clothes in another, electrical goods in another and so on).

If there are places for:

• small farmers that are not fiscally registered who want to sell goods of their own production for subsistence purposes (the need for subsistence purposes must be verified and proven by the Junta de Freguesia)
• hawkers (people that sell here and there, “vendedores ambulantes”, in portuguese)
• other occasional sellers, namely craftsmen

Then these places must be separated from the rest.

That is all Amovate’s responsibility—anyone selling goods then has to make their own arrangements for licensing etc.

This is where the waters get murky and need much more clarification. It could be, for instance, that all traders must give a receipt for every item sold—even if you just sell a Jeffrey Archer paperback for 50 cents! This is the kind of thing we need to have confirmed or denied before any hard and fast decisions can be made.

One of our Portuguese committee members has studied the legislation and translated it and suggests: “From my reading, but a lawyer must confirm it, it seems possible to have people selling who are not registered in the Finanças, just as long as they are occasional sellers and/or small farmers selling their own products.”

Clearly, we cannot in all conscience, make any decisions just yet about the future of Amovate’s Car Boot sales, nor can we offer our car booters any meaningful advice, until we get clear and specific information about the legal implications for both ourselves and the stallholders.

For that reason we will be seeking a further meeting with the Camara Municipal, once they indicate to us that they are now in a position to give us a full picture of all that is required to stage such events.

The next Car Boot is due to go ahead as planned on Sunday June 2, and we will hand out all the information we have up to that date to all stallholders as they arrive.

One of our local residents will be taking part in this event – why not go along and show your support?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Here is the link to the Câmara website, showing the Programme of Events : Programme of Events

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Michelle Cassar has asked Amovate to advertise this year’s beach cleaning event –

This is the 5th Ocean Initiatives to be held on Mt Clérigo.

 

As well as cleaning the beach this event is to raise awareness about plastic pollution, as we are turning our oceans into plastic soup.

Again, we had many people coming last year, but the plastic isn’t going away. Please note: single use plastic gloves will not be supplied, please bring your own if you’d like to use them.  And if you can bring a box along that would be great.  Or a sieve, the small parts are just as important to pick up.

Hope to see you there!

 

With thanks.