Liquor sales in Bogota will be prohibited after 11PM at a wide variety of stores and restaurants, the Mayor’s Office announced Tuesday.
The plan will go into effect Thursday and will affect liquor stores, cafes, grocery stores, convenience stores, gas stations, delis, billiard clubs, and a number of other establishments. Dance clubs are exempted from the alteration. The establishments that are prohibited from selling alcohol overnight can resume sales at 10AM.
The mayor announced the plan as part of a broad effort to curb violence and criminal behavior she claimed was fueled in part by the consumption of alcohol.
Noncompliance with the alcohol ban could cost transgressors as much as $600.
Fenalco, the Colombian National Merchant’s Federation, immediately expressed its displeasure with the law and requested that it be scaled back gradually. Fenalco officials claimed that the law will impact liquor sales and hurt the Bogota economy.