The ban on the sale of alcohol after 9 p. m. does not apply to stalls set up at village feasts, but a new regulation imposes serving alcoholic beverages in biodegradable or cardboard containers.
A spokesman for the parliamentary secretariat responsible for trade confirmed that a legal notice published recently banning confectionaries from selling alcohol after 9 p. m. did not apply to stalls set up on special occasions, such as village feasts, and in possession of a local council permit.
"A local council may issue special permits for tables and chairs for catering, stalls and kiosks, fairs and exhibitions for specific events such as village feasts. Alcohol may be served by these after 9 p. m. The alcohol should be served in a biodegradable material or a cardboard cup and not in glass bottles," the spokesman said when contacted.
This rule was introduced earlier this week through a legal notice that amended regulations governing activities requiring a permit by the local council.
New rules also came into force earlier this week on the sale of alcohol at public events such as concerts. People under the legal drinking age of 17 will be admitted to public events where alcohol is sold but only if such beverage can be " sold or served" in a " physically separate" area where only people aged 17 and over are allowed.
The issue had arisen after the police banned alcohol from being sold at a James Blunt concert on April 7 because individuals under 17 were admitted.
According to the new legal notice, the Police Commissioner can impose further conditions on organisers or the owners of a venue. To this end, the organisers might be required to provide a bank guarantee " to the satisfaction of the Commissioner" of up to € 50,000, guaranteeing that no alcoholic beverages would be sold to or be consumed by youths under 17 at concert venues and other similar events.
The consumption of alcohol purchased from bottle bars on the outskirts of Paceville but which were licensed as confectionaries led the government to impose a ban on confectionaries selling alcohol after 9 p. m. " The changes were made in order to curb alcohol abuse and mitigate its exposure to the more vulnerable members of society," the spokesman said.
However, in a new twist, the new rules do not apply if the confectionaries are granted a permit by a local council to set up a stall outside their shop. This is happening this weekend in villages celebrating the feast of the patron saint.
One of these villages is Kalkara, where the council issued more than 20 permits for the setting up of stalls to sell, among other things, alcohol. One of the stalls, owned by a village band club, was set up in the children's playground.
Mayor Michael Cohen defended the permit, saying the stall had been set up in the same place for several years "and no one ever complained".
He said the stall was detached from the playground because there was a two-course wall separating the two. He said the problem was caused by the fact that the playground was located in the middle of the village centre, leaving very little space where stalls could be set up.