Barcelona restaurants reopened after five weeks



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Barcelona has reopened its restaurants and bars, after five weeks of restrictions imposed by the second wave of the pandemic Covid-19. Spain thus has the first positive effects of the drastic measures taken by the authorities to stop the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Spain has reported a drop in the number of Covid-19 cases, and the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has confirmed that the plan to combat the coronavirus pandemic is working at the national level. On Monday, bars and restaurants in the capital of the Spanish region of Catalonia were reopened following a decision to gradually relax restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reports.

Catalan suppliers and employees at the locations wore sanitary masks and set tables on bar terraces and inside restaurants at the usual distance, and customers were not long in showing up.

“People in the neighborhood are happy to see that the bars have been reopened, they ask us every day about this moment and wait for Monday,” said Eduardo de Vincenzo, a 68-year-old owner of a local restaurant.

Catalonia was the first Spanish region to decide to close its bars and restaurants completely during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in mid-October, and also the first Spanish region to reopen these establishments. which has decreased the infection rate, notes Agerpres.

However, the night travel ban remained in effect, and continue to apply a series of strict restrictions in the rest of Spain, as in most of Europe.

The Catalan authorities have decided to gradually relax the restrictions imposed by the pandemic

Catalonia has also reopened its theaters, cinemas, concert halls and open-air sports stadiums, with a maximum occupancy of 50%.

However, after the fear caused by the second closure of this sector of activity during 2020, the owners of Catalan bars and restaurants are not very optimistic, especially given the fact that their stores still have to close at 21 local time : 30.

“It is very difficult, because we have to pay taxes, we have to pay everything, then we have debts. Before we did not owe anything, but now we owe money. It is a sad reality and I think this is happening all over the planet,” he added. Eduardo de Vincenzo.

Spain, which reported more than 1.55 million cases of COVID-19, the second-largest in Europe after France, and 42,619 deaths, declared a six-month state of emergency in late October, providing legal support to its regions. . they needed to impose night travel bans and travel restrictions.

In Spain, new cases of infection reported in the last 14 days fell to 419 cases per 100,000 inhabitants on Friday, compared to 530 per 100,000 inhabitants in the first week of November. In Catalonia, this indicator is reduced to 390 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

Publisher: AA

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