30% of Barcelona's restaurants have permanently closed due to Covid restrictions
This makes me very sad
I understand similar conversations are likely to turn sour very quickly so I'll try my best to explain what follows without getting political: some of the cities you and I know and love won't look the same after the pandemic not because the pandemic changed them but because the way the situation was handled by the government that runs these places did. Most governments, especially in European countries and North America, took drastic measures to curb the outbreak and the hospitality sector took a hit. In some cases, prolonged closures of restaurants and businesses were more or less adequately compensated but in most cases they weren't, and a shockingly high number of restaurants closed down for good.
Photo by Johan Mouchet on Unsplash
Things have been particularly bad in Mediterranean countries like Spain, France and Italy, where restaurants have been kept shut for months and - this is the real issue - business owners haven't been compensated well enough to survive. According to Barcelona's restaurant association, 30% of the city's bars and restaurants have closed permanently since the start of the pandemic, including a 150-year-old restaurant which was replaced... by a Taco Bell.
Photo by Amal Bourkhis on Unsplash
In an interview with The Guardian, restaurant association's director Roger Pallarols said that "in recent months businesses have been closed as a result of the restrictions and the disastrous management of the crisis".
As things stand, bars and restaurants are allowed to operate at reduced capacity (30%) from 7.30 AM through 5 PM, with takeout available until 10 PM. The list of 'casualties' of these prolonged restrictions include the Senyor Parellada, a traditional Catalan restaurant that originally opened its doors over 150 years ago; Can Soteras, which closed its doors after 105 years and Agut, a family-owned restaurant in the historic Gothic Quarter that served its final meal after 97 years in business.
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Comments (14)
Same all over the world. Many companies are bankrupted because of this pandemic. But I don't think we're there yet. We in the Netherlands expect another huge financial crisis that destroys even more (sorry for the negative insight, but it's true
I'm from Italy and the way the country managed the pandemic was one (of many) reasons why I left. Businesses have been kept shut for 9 months out of the last 13, and they haven't been compensated. The average restaurant owner has received...
Read moreSame here but I have understand that the government withdraw the compensations so many businesses will close and many people will be out of a job. Except for politicians, they make money right now! (those *bleep* *bleep* *bleep* and don't...
Read moreIn Germany we don't yet know what percentage of businesses is going to close down for good but I'm afraid that it's going to be a lot, especially restaurants, pubs and hotels. Our politicians, who were supposed to manage the situation, turned out to be utter failures, all of them, and the EU didn't help either. Personally, I really envy the Brits, who seem to have managed significantly better. I hope that one day the German people will have a say on the EU membership like the Brits but that's probably wishful thinking.
hardly surprising
No but sad
So sad to hear I had the best steak of my life in a wee restaurant in the gothic quarter in Barcelona 😢
😢 so sad, I worry greatly about the future.