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Hundreds of businessmen and workers from restaurants, cultural events and nightlife gather in Rossio, Lisbon, demanding the support of the government to fight unemployment and continue to “put bread on the table.”
In front of the Doña María II National Theater, and surrounded by a visible police apparatus, the organizers of the protest make themselves heard over an open van, from which they disarm a list of complaints that always end the same: “The restoration and the culture are dying! “.
Those present, masked and with a certain social distancing, hold posters that read the main demands of these sectors. They complain of being the scapegoat for this pandemic and claim to be the most responsible for security, but say that despite this they have been the most affected.
“They are killing 100% of the restaurants by a 3% contagion”, “We want to work, let’s live” or “There is no health without an economy” are some of the phrases that can be read on the posters of some of the protesters.
Different stakeholders complain that they have been forced to lay off workers, especially in the cultural entertainment sector, but also in restaurants, hotels, discos and bars and tourist transport.
Among them, chef Ljubomir Stanisic, who reinforces that the protesters “are not against the government (…) they do not want to get involved in politics.”
“We are forced to fire people, but we don’t want to fire people.”
And he still leaves an appeal: “Look at us, we are literally dying.”
Commerce and restaurants begin today the first of two weekends when they can only open between 08:00 and 13:00, under the state of emergency, a measure challenged by several business associations.
