Salzburg tower blocks garage access to curb drug scene

A residential tower near Salzburg’s main railway station has installed metal barriers to stop unauthorized visitors, including people using drugs and homeless people, from entering, ORF reported. The building’s management ordered the work, with the city contributing more than 15,000 euros.

Until recently, visitors could reach the residential building through the public underground car park of a shopping centre in the same building. The new metal grilles block access from the garage to the residential entrances. The building’s escape route has also been screened off to prevent it being used as an entrance.

Vincent Pultar, parliamentary group leader for the Social Democrats on Salzburg’s city council, called the barriers a “game-changer” and said the funding could be released by the mayor without a lengthy administrative process or council decisions.

Paul Dürnberger, parliamentary group leader for the Freedom Party, said the barriers were a step in the right direction but would not solve the problem permanently. He said people could still enter through the main door and called for further measures to prevent drug activity. Dürnberger said there were signs the scene was moving elsewhere, including to Lichthaus, and that security staff had been alerted.

Residents said conditions in the tower on Fanny-von-Lehnert-Straße had worsened in recent years and had become unbearable. They said it was too early to know whether the barriers would work. The building, also known as Zylaturm, has been the subject of years of headlines and political disputes.