The hospitality sector remains very unhappy, saying once again that it is being ignored by the slight relaxation of the restrictions against the covid announced last Thursday by the president of the Generalitat, Ximo Puig, which will come into effect on Monday 12th April, for the next two weeks.
They consider that their appeals have not been taken into account, that they are once again being disregarded after the sacrifices of Holy Week and Easter, and all despite the fact that the Community remains among those with the very best figures in the face of the pandemic.
Among the measures to be relaxed, but still using the “maximum prudence” that Puig emphasises, so as not to ruin the current stability, is to increase the groups of cohabitants in homes to two.
Meetings of up to 6 people are also allowed outside, both at tables in bars and restaurants and during sports activities.
Visits to the elderly, who are accommodated in care homes, are also allowed, as 100% of the staff are vaccinated, apart from a small number of exceptions, as well as 95% of those who are over 80 years of age. Puig said that it is now about “adapting to the current situation” but without ceasing to apply “the utmost caution.”
The slight modification to the restrictive measures, which will be updated again in 15 days, continues to depend on the evolution of the pandemic, said Puig, although the current relaxation still goes a long way from satisfying the needs of the hospitality industry.
After learning that the current restrictions are maintained, with the exception of the increase in the number of the those who can sit around a table from 4 to 6 people, a spokesperson for Conhostur, an organization that represents the Valencia Hospitality Business Federation (Hostelería Valencia), the Castellón Hospitality and Tourism Association (Ashotur) and the Hospitality Business Federation of the Province of Alicante (Fehpa), expressed his “disappointment.”
At the very least the hospitality industry is demanding that they be allowed to remain open to 8pm, as is already the case with shops. Currently bars and restaurants are required to close at 6pm.
Conhostur said that “it was time to relax the de-escalation plan a little more, taking into account the epidemiological situation and therefore we requested an extension of our trading hours, as well as an increase of our internal capacity to 50%”, and not 30% as it is at the moment.
It’s spokesman said that “with the weather, the time change and the recent holiday, during Easter it has been possible to see how society now seeks out places where they can interact after 6 pm”, such as beaches and parks where “Food and drink continue to be available and consumed”.
As such they once again insist on an “urgent review of the measures that take into account the extension of the hours, so that the opening of many hospitality and leisure establishments can become really viable.” However, they also continue to show their disgust with those people in government “for not having discussed the situation, and reviewed the measures, with its representatives.”
They conclude that the “unsustainable price that hospitality is paying has seen the bankruptcy of more than 10,000 companies and 34,500 jobs,” with accumulated losses of more than 1,017 million euros, or 11 million a day, in what is, without doubt the most battered and uncared for sector in the whole community.”
