They say that there is no evil that lasts a hundred years, nor a body that resists it. In the quasi-confined streets of Granada, its hoteliers and merchantsThey do not even believe that they can do it for another month without a rescue to save them from the evil that has plagued them for the past nine years, when the pandemic settled in the country and unleashed the greatest crisis of the last century. A century that, precisely, this year celebrates a bar near the emblematic Plaza Isabel La Católica, the Cisco and Earth, whose foundations have resisted all the evils that have occurred since 1920, but “none like this,” says its owner, manager and chef, Josà © Luis.
A similar bad omen is the one that can be felt this Monday in every corner of the neuralgic epicenter of the city on the last day before the application of the new restrictive measures announced by the Junta de AndalucÃa, in force since midnight this Tuesday , which include the complete closure of the hotel business and any economic activity in Granada considered non-essential for at least two weeks.
At the door of this small tavern of family heritage and historical gastronomic trajectory, you can read an “informative” sign that warns customers of the modification in schedules “to comply with the regulations imposed by the shoddy government that we have, from left to right, all in the same bag. ” And this is just what many hoteliers in the province expected, a modification in the Schedule allowing them a minimum income, “the tap is half open,” says another waiter in the area ironically, referring to the words of the president of the Board, Juanma Moreno.
That hope abruptly vanished at noon this Sunday, after the appearance of the Andalusian president, Juanma Moreno, in which the news was known that fell like a jug of cold water among the workers of the service sector of the city positioned as the worst hit by the coronavirus throughout the national territory. And the fact is that, unlike the rest of the provinces of the region that will have a morning time slot until 6:00 p.m., Granada will be the only one that will have to take measures whose severity has tinges of the month of May, when all of Spain a was still in phase 0.
In this same line, Jose Luis explains with resignation that “instability” and changes in such a short time are not economically sustainable for the entire hospitality industry, represented by some 3,500 bars and restaurants throughout the province, at the same time that it expresses its disagreement with the measures since it considers that the approach has a basic error. ” Contagions do not occur only in establishments, or on terraces, they are not the main source of contagion”, he assures. Likewise, and knowing that the experience is a degree, Josà © Luis has been depleting his food supplies during the week “because of what could happen” and, in this way, not generating more cost of payment to suppliers.
The order will relentlessly affect the economy of Granada, the Andalusian province with more bars per inhabitant, something of which this veteran hotelier is convinced that it is not the behavior of the sector that is to blame but rather “the politicians, no matter the color” and proposes, as his poster reads, “the union of all to throw them all out ”
No less descriptive is the image that can be seen a few meters away, at the entrance of the well-known Navas Street, the owner of Iberian Alhambra has hung from street to street in protest his work uniform accompanied by a real estate cartel in which you can read: ”Sell yourself Navas Street ”, contact ” the hostelry ”. Also a few steps up is the Restaurant ‘Hermanos UrquÃza’, a hotel business of family birth, in whose interior Aurora, the daughter of one of the founders, explains that this closure is much more reckless for the sector than that of the first wave since “the offensive catches us wounded, before we came from a stability”.
In his opinion, the summer months have not been enough to balance the balance of losses during the almost three months of closure and he calls for “more help” from the administrations. ” No one refuses to close, we do not want anyone to die and we are aware of the health situation, only we ask for alternatives and support, we cannot resist much longer putting all our savings. ”
Likewise, he believes that the payment situation of the ERTE it is a trap for the sector, stating that “going into debt is no help.” The situation is extreme, he considers it that way, and sees as the only solution to survival ” cost minimization” Therefore, although he would like all his staff to stay, in the last few months they have had to rescue family help, including that of his retired father, and have only two external workers. “Resources are running out, it’s been many months, our death is also a reality,” he says.
About the future, he is reticent. Has no hope set on christmas campaign since it considers family tourism necessary. ” Let an uncle from Madrid come, your cousin from Burgos and the brother from Seville. At this point in the year we have already had a full December and now we don’t even have short-term horizons, ” he ends.
This feeling is endorsed by the president of the Hospitality Federation, Gregorio GarcÃa, who has also summed up the picture as “bleak.” García has criticized the short time margin for the actions of the businesses that still have in their cámaras frigor ficas food that they will not be able to use, which translates into more losses, and that in most cases is distributed among the workers themselves. Likewise, it defends and praises the exemplary behavior that the more than 15,000 people who work in the hospitality industry and considers that “they are the ones that have taken the most measures.”
In a new claim, in line with the businessmen’s requests, he asks for ” direct aid and tax suppression and fees ” to reduce the obstacles of the last months and make flexible the employment regulation files to be returned. Regarding the measures announced by Moreno within a rescue plan with initiatives such as “soft credits, direct aid and tax exemptions”, García argues that “politicians say the measures, but there is still no direct consideration for the entrepreneur to be able to move on “, he concluded.
Trade, walking a tightrope
The domino effect can also be seen in the ” golden mile ” of the capital, the central and historic Picked up Street. A third of the business fabric expects to close due to the structural problems of recent years added to the instability and losses generated by the pandemic that now force them to close 80% of their businesses.
“We are treated in a discriminatory way, that the tax charges be removed and, if not, that everyone pays them,” he says. MarÃa, an owner of a family business of party accessories which augurs “bankruptcy” after this second closing. ” Only those who are very well or economically good come out of this. Those of us who live from day to day and survive for specific seasons are doomed to failure. “
Right there, another businessman, Manuel, with a small textile business, points out ” hopefully that’s enough, but there will still be a lot of private parties. Those of us who live here are aware of how this city works, each one sweeps at home and we know that neither the shops nor the hotel industry are the greatest of our problems, ” he says.
Their old crystals will no longer be able to reflect either the passage, the splendor, or the illusion of bygone times, which they also say were always better. And referring to Manuel’s words, ” Hopefully all of this will serve to toast in December. And that we are all. ”
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