Salou. Costa Dorada. 20 March 2021.
The first weekend (March 19, 20 and 21) that the Generalitat de Catalunya allows mobility between the Catalan regions after months of regional confinement, the restaurant sector continues with important restrictions to work and nightlife remains closed up close and personal. The associations that represent them have once again shouted to heaven, and have accused the Generalitat of "promoting illegal encounters in places totally out of control by the Administration and the main focus of contagion."
The Catalan Federation of Associations of Restoration and Musical Activities (FECASARM) has once again complained about the discrimination suffered by these economic sectors due to the anti-COVID measures adopted by the Generalitat, which they consider “outdated, arbitrary, disproportionate, ineffective, incoherent, discriminatory and counterproductive, which are leading thousands of families to ruin, without making the slightest effort when looking for formulas that make the economic viability of companies compatible and the protection of people's health ”, according to what has been made public the entity in a statement.
In this sense, the president of the Salou Nightlife and Restoration Association, Eduardo Abenójar, denounces that "when people arrive in Salou they will find all the bars, restaurants and nightlife venues closed at night and, apart from the deplorable image that we will give, everyone will choose to meet in unsafe places, such as private homes or the beach, and dinners between non-partners, illegal parties in apartments and large bottles will be the order of the day, all this while our premises, with sanitary measures and with control measures, they continue to be ruined without help from anyone ”.
According to Joaquim Boadas, secretary general of FECASARM, the Generalitat should "innovate and take advantage of legal premises to reduce infections, imposing more health and security measures, and control their application, instead of promoting illegal encounters."
Complaints about restaurants and nightlife have been rekindled because, according to the Catalan Traffic Service, a mobility of more than 930,000 vehicles was expected on that weekend, only 5% less than on a prepandemic Friday. According to FECASARM, thousands of visitors in coastal and inland municipalities throughout Catalonia without a legal offer of restaurants and nightlife, responsible for the restrictions of the Catalan government.
The entity explains that the restrictions to which these economic sectors are subjected come from a report from the Generalitat of February 26 in which they argue the closure for "the non-use of the mask during all or most of the time of stay in the establishment and the non-maintenance of the safety distance for a relevant time ”. But according to the representatives of the restoration and nightlife, their premises are safe and more controlled, and that is why they require the Administration to open it with the necessary security measures.
