La hora zanahoria

The Hora Zanahoria ( German  "carrot hour " ) is a curfew regulation that was introduced by the former mayor of the Colombian capital Bogotá , Antanas Mockus , due to the high alcohol consumption.

La Hora Zanahoria is a play on words , since zana , when the “z” is pronounced softly, sounds like sana and translated means healthy . So La Hora Zanahoria stands for a healthy time. The idea was implemented by law, the serving of alcoholic beverages after 1:00 a.m. was prohibited. In the years after these and other social measures were introduced, the number of police operations fell dramatically. Between August 2001 and February 2002 , for example, the murder rate in the city fell by 19.7 percent .

La Hora Zanahoria was renamed Hora Optimista , or “Optimistic Time”, in February 2003 , and the serving time was extended to 3:00 am. Similar projects under the same name have been launched in other cities in Colombia.

The name La Hora Zanahoria has become so common in Colombia that it includes any limitation of the opening times of bars and dance halls.

literature

• Martín, Gerard / Ceballos, Miguel 2004: Bogotá: Anatomía de una transformación. Políticas de seguridad ciudadana, 1995-2003 . Bogotá: Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, ISBN 958-683-750-5 .