Following the reported dismay of a Luxembourgish stall owner after not having been granted a spot at the annual Christmas market by the capital’s Public Spaces, Festivals, and Markets department, the Luxembourg City Greens have now filed an urgent enquiry concerning the respective eligibility criteria.
The party further pleads for greater transparency in the matter, which has in return infuriated Charles Hary, president of Luxembourg’s Federation of Commercial Stall Owners.
According to Hary, there are no tensions between the Federation and municipal authorities. He noted that the RTL report was the first time he heard of the complaints from the stall owner in question, Jérôme Zellweger, whose statements he described as scandalous.
Zellweger had accused the municipality of unfair treatment and an individual rather than universal assessment system.
In response, the Luxembourg City alderman in charge of the market’s organisation, Patrick Goldschmidt, reiterated that applicants have to fulfill certain aesthetic and thematic criteria to be eligible for a spot. Furthermore, close to 100 requests had been received for the 30 spots available at this year’s edition, meaning the majority of stall owners end up without a spot.
