Amsterdam’s attempts to drive out ‘unwanted’ tourists from certain parts of the city have hit a snag, with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) voicing its displeasure at plans to create a purpose-built red light area near its new HQ.

The city has been at pains to highlight its desire to keep the city as a tourist attraction, but at the same time driving out unwanted visitors, its ‘Stay Away’ campaign launching in the coming weeks.

As part of that, the city’s mayor, Femke Halsema, wants to create a multi-storey “erotic centre” to replace the centrally located Red Light district, a move that has not received wholehearted support.

The EMA says the answer is not to move the problem from one area of Amsterdam to another, fearing “nuisance, drug-dealing, drunkenness and disorderly behaviour” would be transferred to their doorstep. “Locating the Erotic Centre in close proximity to EMA’s building is likely to bring the same negative impacts to the adjacent area,” it said in a statement.

The ‘Stay Away’ campaign aims to deter certain visitors from the popular destination, with new regulations coming into place in May that will see certain bars and restaurants closing by 2am on Fridays and Saturdays, and no new visitors allowed into the old city district after 1am. A further move last month saw the council announce that it would soon be illegal to smoke cannabis on the streets of the Red Light district.

The problem now appears to be that businesses and residents of other areas of the city don’t want the issue foisted upon them, the district of Zuidas, where the EMA is based, one of the locations under consideration for the so-called “erotic centre”.