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The tent was missing to spend the night as a result of the entrepreneurs of the restoration of Porto, interrupted in the early hours of Tuesday. But this Wednesday night, around 9 p.m., the tent was already set up in front of the Porto City Hall building, where a few dozen owners of Greater Porto restaurants gathered to remember the difficult time that this sector of activity is going through.
The windy and rainy night did not come to bring out a group of store owners who will remain there until morning, until they are replaced, in the same number, by other colleagues. This time with shelter. There are six on each shift who will stay there until at least December 11.
“We want them to let us work so that we can continue to have our livelihood,” João Piro tells the PUBLIC, along with dozens of lighted candles lined up on the steps in front of the Paços do Concelho. He is the owner of Espalha Brasas, in Ramalde, Porto. Since the beginning of the pandemic, billing has dropped by around 60%, a situation that “has been getting worse in recent times.”
It has eight employees, none at leave. “But you have to pay these salaries, as well as all the taxes inherent to the activity. I am going the extra mile to meet my commitments, ”he adds.
João Monteiro is one of those who will stay on this first lap until morning. Its objective is clear: “This vigil is a cry for silence. It is a vigil that aims to reach the top management so that they know our difficulties. Every month passes quickly and you have to pay your wages ”.
Nuno Gomes, owner of the restaurant O Palato, on Rua Heróis de França, in Matosinhos, will not take the night shift, but he left home to join his colleagues in the silent protest. His establishment is located in the “dining room” of Matosinhos and Grande Porto, where there are dozens of restaurants, mainly dedicated to serving the fish that arrives every day from the sea to the fish market located on the same artery.
He has seven employees in charge and in recent weeks he has reached “90% loss of turnover”. The bad moment that is happening does not make him forget his colleagues in other parts of the country: “We are here in a solidarity vigil with the restoration of all of Portugal so that they serve us and allow us to open restaurants at, let’s say, normal hours. . At the same time, we stand in solidarity with our colleagues who are on hunger strike in Lisbon ”. The statements were made before the protest in Lisbon ended.
