Prague wants to ban consumption of alcohol in over 1,000 public places

In this way, it will reduce the levels of noise and pollution

On 17 May, the Czech City of Prague revealed its plans to update its existing ban on alcohol consumption. At the moment, citizens are prohibited from drinking alcohol in around 800 public places in the capital. With the new decree, this number would increase to just over 1,000. 

What is more, the ban will not only apply to drinking alcohol but to also walking around the city with an open bottle or can. Taking this further, the municipality also seeks to introduce certain times during which the ban will apply. For example, the decree will prohibit people from consuming alcohol on Prague’s embankments from midnight to 9 am. Commenting on this, Property Councillor Jan Chabr shared:

“Prague’s embankments are a place that has long served as a cultural and leisure zone of the capital. At the same time, however, it is necessary to maintain peace for the local inhabitants of the Prague 5 and Prague 2 districts. The companies on the embankment also close at 22:00, so ordinary visitors to the embankment should not be significantly restricted by the new decree. Social life will be preserved until midnight, and then, at night, we would like there to be more peace for the locals.”

Preventing people from littering 

According to Prague’s Deputy Mayor for Security Petr Hlubuček, the return of tourists is one of the main reasons behind the introduction of the new decree. More specifically, he shared that having more visitors means having more noise and pollution, which, in turn, disturbs local residents. As such, the main goal of the new decree is to protect Prague’s citizens and keep the city clean. 

The City Council will hold another meeting before approving the updated ban. If approved, the changes will take effect as of 1 July.