"Facade" action/ Tirana's sidewalks remain occupied

2026-05-20 09:08:00, Aktualitet CNA

This is the physical reality on the streets of Tirana, where the free movement of pedestrians remains a daily challenge. Sidewalks, which legally should be at the service of the public, have once again become spaces privatized by private businesses. Every square meter vacated months ago has been reoccupied as soon as the attention of institutions has shifted.

In the summer of 2025, Prime Minister Edi Rama announced a nationwide initiative to clear public spaces, local and national roads of encroachment. The operation was accompanied by promises of zero tolerance and the warning that the "cat and mouse" game between businesses and the state was over.

But current evidence suggests otherwise, businesses simply waited for the first wave of inspections to pass before returning to where they started. In a statement made at the end of March, Prime Minister Rama also acknowledged the challenges of this process, describing it as a long struggle with mentality.

" The liberation of public spaces and the imposition of a new status of public space continue with persistence. It is not easy. It is a fight with a deeply rooted mentality, apparently even deeper than these 30-odd years. Meanwhile, the process, as I said at the beginning of the time, after we won the fourth mandate, is not a temporary process, it is not an action of one week, one month, two months, but it is a continuous commitment to restore order in the use of shared spaces. In Tirana alone, where many problems related to the occupation of public spaces have been identified, 140 thousand square meters have been liberated, which is not a small amount, while in areas such as, for example, the area here in the center, very strong interventions have also been undertaken to ensure the liberation of public spaces ," said Rama.

To document the actions, the government also created the "My Public Space" portal, a digital platform where success statistics are counted. But the data from this portal is proving to be valid only on paper. While the virtual instrument reports liberated spaces, the reality on the ground confirms that without systematic monitoring, any initiative remains simply a temporary propaganda campaign at the expense of citizens' safety.