The entire leisure sector has a sword of Damocles over it with the health crisis caused by the coronavirus. The time restrictions and closures that these stores have suffered have led many entrepreneurs to permanently close the doors of their businesses and others to live with the noose around their necks. A limiting situation that causes an uncertain future, even in the medium term.
The Catalan karaoke venues, which have seen 25% of those that were open before the pandemic, have closed their doors definitively from this crisis. For the remaining 75%, the Karaoke Producers and Entrepreneurs Association (APEK) calls for an urgent economic shock plan to avoid closure as they are on the verge of bankruptcy. There is no longer joy in rooms designed to free the singers that we carry inside or to be able to lose shame for a while, now only the silence of the microphones remains.
The association demands from the Government an economic rescue plan for the sector and asks the autonomous administrations to equate this activity with cultural shows, which would allow them to “reconnect their microphones” with all the required security measures. In Catalonia, there are 72 karaoke venues. They have adopted various measures to guarantee safety, such as capacity limitation, minimum separation and disinfectant alcohol. However, they went one step further and also use UVC light microphone covers and sterilizers for each performance and methacrylate partitions on stage. Never an activity like singing had such a risk for those who listen and wait their turn.
These stores have not opened since March, so billing has dropped on average by 89%, compared to 2019 data. For this reason, “the resistance capacity has currently exceeded the limits” of these establishments. from the sector who remembers that they do not have any help despite the fact that “the restrictions are increasing.” “The action of the Government and specifically that of the Generalitat has been disproportionate, with inconsistent measures, even prohibiting karaoke activity in some territories even during daytime hours or totally in many communities,” they say from APEK that they remember that this activity “will disappear in Catalonia, and that we will end up missing as a recreational and healthy activity that more than 720,000 Catalans visit every year”.
“We believe that activity can be resumed immediately with all the health measures that are already being taken, or else, accepting new additional measures that may be proposed by the institutions,” says Karlos Hurtado, president of APEK, who recalls that his The company has been with zero income for 9 months and they have had to reduce the workforce by 80%. “The karaokes have been and must continue to be the quarry of all future singers in Spain, a deep-rooted hobby of popular culture, and a festive activity that is worth protecting,” says Hurtado. Now the mics are muted.
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