The Madrid leisure sector celebrates that the reform of the Entertainment Law redefines the capacity with safety criteria

 The Platform for Leisure of Madrid celebrated this Friday that the draft reform of the Law on Public Entertainment and Recreational Activities (LEPAR) — included in the new Land Law of the Community of Madrid — incorporates a new definition of capacity based exclusively on safety criteria.

The organization has celebrated that This modification is “the cornerstone” of the regulatory renewal and, in a statement, he maintains that this reform will allow “to end the crisis of capacity and seals”, which in recent months had culminated in fines and even the closure of venues such as the Barceló Theater in the capital.

The redefinition of capacity, which now establishes it as the number of people equivalent to the safe evacuation capacity of a premises, contributes to the establishments “legal security” and eliminates interpretations, in the opinion of the Platform for Leisure, has generated conflicts over recent years.

This formula is calculated in accordance with the Basic Fire Safety Document of the Technical Building Code and complies in some way with the demands of the sector in recent times, as it will allow linking capacity limitations solely to technical safety parameters, leaving behind other criteria that consider unrelated to the protection of users.

Likewise, they highlight that the new sanctioning regime more clearly classifies infractions related to exceeding the capacity, grading their severity depending on the risk to people’s safety.

The sector considers that the reform places the Community of Madrid as a reference for other autonomies and trusts that the rest of the communities will end up adopting a similar definition of the concept of capacity.

ASK FOR THE SUPPORT OF THE PARTIES IN THE ASSEMBLY

With the beginning of the parliamentary process, the organizations demand the support of all political groups in the Madrid Assembly, understanding that it is a modification aimed at reinforcing security in public establishments.

However, this same Friday the Government delegate in Madrid, Francisco Martín has positioned himself against the LEPAR reform and has asked the Government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso to reverse, withdraw the project and start a new path together with the institution and with the “imputs” the Security Forces and Bodies.

The Platform for Leisure, for its part, has announced that it will open a round of contacts with associations in the leisure, culture, tourism and hospitality sector, as well as with the Regional Federation of Associations Residents of Madrid and the parties with parliamentary representation to explain the scope of the reform and study possible improvements during its processing.