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| The ACBARM reproaches that these municipal measures that they request temporarily and extraordinarily are being carried out practically throughout the Region of Murcia | The Association of Cafes, Bars and Related of the Region of Murcia (ACBARM) and the Association of Restaurants of the Region of Murcia (ARRM) denounce that the Murcia City Council is denying all requests for expansion of terraces that the hoteliers of the capital They have attended to have more tables before the sanitary measures imposed by the COVID-19 crisis.

"In practically the entire Region of Murcia they are lending a hand to the hospitality sector, creating space in the neighboring areas so that the terraces combine compliance with the rules with the minimum profitability of their table license," says the president of ACBARM, José María Rubiales, who criticizes that in the capital - "where there are more establishments" - the attitude is totally contrary to that help.Rubiales indicates that the Murcian Consistory is behind an interpretation of the law, which indicates the impossibility of expanding the space for terraces using the adjacent pedestrian areas.

“But it is an interpretable text and we are convinced that it can be done, not in vain in other municipalities they are carrying it out.

That is where the politician's will comes in and his way of understanding how to help his citizens, ”says ARRM President Juan José Nicolás, while stressing that in many terraces there are enough spaces to expand and leave more than double the pedestrian spaces .The most restrictive interpretationLarge cities in Spain and other Murcian municipalities have rescued the spirit of this rule, while the Murcia City Council has made the most restrictive interpretation possible in the entire country, "as always".

"That large squares that have become pedestrian can not give up part of their space for this special moment does not make sense reading that rule, because pedestrians would not affect their space.

This City Council has no will, nor has it ever had, to help the sector ”, the hoteliers grieve.The hoteliers of the capital have held several meetings with the councilor for Public Roads, Juan Fernando Hernández, to whom they have offered alternatives and examples from other City Councils, but from their area they have shown an ambiguous position: they offer all their support and interest at the same time than a resounding no.

"They do not realize that we are in a dramatic situation of families and we have to take exceptional measures temporarily," they hurt in the sector.As an example, the association cites the municipality of Los Alcázares, where they are allowing the pedestrianization of streets in hourly stretches for the use of terraces.

Murcian hoteliers also look at the expansions of terraces in Archena, where they are closing as many streets as possible to give up their space, or in Lorca, where even parking spaces are used.Limit situation"Those are the measures most used by all municipalities, because they are clear that hospitality is a great source of employment and the reactivation of its economy passes through this sector," emphasizes Nicolás, who reports as one more example than in a capital of province such as Almería is also working in this direction.

A measure of grace that professionals request exclusively "temporarily and extraordinarily while this health crisis lasts, because without it many businesses will end up going bankrupt.""Until now we have only had good words, but come to reality, when the locals need more space on their terraces due to the reduced capacity, the Murcia City Council has shown its true face and left us alone in a dire situation" , the hoteliers complain, who also reproach that other sectors that contribute less to GDP and the labor market have received more aid than theirs.Some 15,000 hospitality workers are affected in Murcia by this situation in a sector that feels powerless and that is clear where this municipal position will lead.

“It is impossible to work with this application of the standard.

Thus, not only will we not be able to rescue the employees affected by ERTES, of which more than 40% have not yet even received a euro, but it will go directly to layoffs and bankruptcies, "they predict.

Source: HOSTEMUR