Amovate has decided after great deliberation and with great regret that next Sunday’s Car Boot Sale at the Old School House (June 2nd) should be cancelled in light of the new Government legislation covering such events.
Amovate’s Committee felt the organisation has a duty to ensure all of our activities are kept within the law, and—due in no small part to the complexity of the new laws—we are not yet in a position to do that concerning the Car Boot Sale.
We are informed that we really do need a licence from the Camara before we can hold these monthly gatherings and follow certain guidelines, such as marking out the ground and ensuring stallholders and sellers are positioned in the correct place relative to the wares they are selling.
Hopefully we at Amovate can have a legal market soon, and over the next few weeks we will be endeavouring to sort out the problems in further meetings with the Camara.
There are many issues to resolve, such as whether each individual stallholder needs to register with the Camara and/or the Finanças, regardless of whether they are professional traders are just occasional sellers.
We are truly sorry that this decision has been forced upon us, and we apologise to anyone, such as our treasured cake-makers, for any inconvenience this will almost certainly cause.
We hope you understand the matter is entirely out of our hands and that we must err on the side of caution to ensure a volunteer, charitable organisation, does not fall foul of what most people feel is a ridiculous and ill thought-out piece of legislation that hits at what most of us view as a harmless and enjoyable social gathering.
Incidentally, if any of you know of any regular stallholders who come from outside Aljezur could you please be so kind as to pass on this message to save them an unnecessary journey.
We will keep you updated as further developments occur.
