- Region
- Águilas
- Alhama de Murcia
- Jumilla
- Lorca
- Los Alcázares
- Mazarrón
- San Javier
-
ALL AREAS & TOWNS
- AREAS
- SOUTH WEST
- MAR MENOR
- MURCIA CITY & CENTRAL
- NORTH & NORTH WEST
- TOWNS
- Abanilla
- Abarán
- Aguilas
- Alamillo
- Alcantarilla
- Aledo
- Alhama de Murcia
- Archena
- Balsicas
- Blanca
- Bolnuevo
- Bullas
- Cañadas del Romero
- Cabo de Palos
- Calasparra
- Camping Bolnuevo
- Campo De Ricote
- Camposol
- Canada De La Lena
- Caravaca de la Cruz
- Cartagena
- Cehegin
- Ceuti
- Cieza
- Condado de Alhama
- Corvera
- Costa Cálida
- Cuevas De Almanzora
- Cuevas de Reyllo
- El Carmoli
- El Mojon
- El Molino (Puerto Lumbreras)
- El Pareton / Cantareros
- El Raso
- El Valle Golf Resort
- Fortuna
- Fuente Alamo
- Hacienda del Alamo Golf Resort
- Hacienda Riquelme Golf Resort
- Isla Plana
- Islas Menores & Mar de Cristal
- Jumilla
- La Azohia
- La Charca
- La Manga Club
- La Manga del Mar Menor
- La Pinilla
- La Puebla
- La Torre
- La Torre Golf Resort
- La Unión
- Las Palas
- Las Ramblas
- Las Ramblas Golf
- Las Torres de Cotillas
- Leiva
- Librilla
- Lo Pagan
- Lo Santiago
- Lorca
- Lorquí
- Los Alcázares
- Los Balcones
- Los Belones
- Los Canovas
- Los Nietos
- Los Perez (Tallante)
- Los Urrutias
- Los Ventorrillos
- Mar De Cristal
- Mar Menor
- Mar Menor Golf Resort
- Mazarrón
- Mazarrón Country Club
- Molina de Segura
- Moratalla
- Mula
- Murcia City
- Murcia Property
- Pareton
- Peraleja Golf Resort
- Perin
- Pilar de la Horadada
- Pinar de Campoverde
- Pinoso
- Playa Honda
- Playa Honda / Playa Paraíso
- Pliego
- Portmán
- Pozo Estrecho
- Puerto de Mazarrón
- Puerto Lumbreras
- Puntas De Calnegre
- Region of Murcia
- Ricote
- Roda Golf Resort
- Roldan
- Roldan and Lo Ferro
- San Javier
- San Pedro del Pinatar
- Santiago de la Ribera
- Sierra Espuña
- Sucina
- Tallante
- Terrazas de la Torre Golf Resort
- Torre Pacheco
- Totana
- What's On Weekly Bulletin
- Yecla
- EDITIONS: Spanish News Today Alicante Today Andalucia Today
ARCHIVED - Bars and restaurants in Murcia fear for their future in lockdown de-escalation
Partial re-opening will not be enough to pay staff costs in the early phases of de-escalation
For obvious reasons these are times of great uncertainty for the bars and restaurants which until mid-March formed such an integral part of life in the Region of Murcia, and the presentation on Tuesday of the Spanish government’s 4-phase plan to de-escalate the coronavirus emergency lockdown has done little to instil confidence in many businesses in the sector.
The problem for bars and restaurants is that if they are allowed to open again but with limited numbers of clients this will mean them ending their “ERTE” temporary employment regulation schemes, which have allowed them to keep staff on the books while the social security system bears the cost of 70 per cent of their full wage packets. This means that the hostelries themselves will once again be paying wages and salaries (and other running costs), but the restrictions on the type and amount of business they will be allowed to do bring with them an inevitable sharp drop in revenue in comparison with their “normal” services.
In addition, it is still unclear under what conditions they will be permitted to open, ie, will it be obligatory to install expensive glass screening between tables, or in kitchens???
Between the 4th and 10th May it is anticipated that bars and restaurants will be allowed to offer "take-away services" durig the so-called "0 period" or preparation phase.
Following this it is anticipated that during the first phase of de-escalation, which will come into operation on 11th May if the pandemic continues to recede, only outdoor terraces will be made available to customers, and those terraces will be allowed to cater for only 30 per cent of their maximum capacity.
It is anticipated that there will be a "special time slot" for the over 65s, as they are still considered to be the most vulnerable to contagion and will be given specific hours in which only they will be allowed to use the bars and cafés.
In the opinion of Jesús Jiménez, the president of the Murcia hostelries’ association Hostemur, this will lead businesses into “ruin”, and if the ERTE schemes are not prolonged or modified many will immediately become insolvent.
25th May to 7th June - Phase 2: Bars and restaurants will now be allowed to welcome clients indoors, always providing “guarantees of distancing” and service at tables rather than at the bar, again, with reduced capacity of 30% of their internal surface area.
8th to 21st June – Phase 3: The restrictions on bars and restaurants will be relaxed further, although details have yet to be specified. From 22nd June the "new normality" will begin, whatever that actually is.....
In the six and a half weeks since the shutters were pulled down at bars and restaurants those in Murcia have missed out on the long holiday weekend around the fiesta of San José on 19th March, the Easter holidays, the spring fiestas in the regional capital and the season of communion meals, and it goes without saying that in “normal” years these account for a considerable proportion of their annual takings.
In this context, Sr Jiménez and others consider it irresponsible of the government to announce the gradual de-escalation plan without first implementing modifications to the ERTE schemes, which as they stand oblige businesses to re-employ staff on a full-time basis after resuming their activities. This is the case even in those businesses, like bars and restaurants, for whom closure during the state of emergency was obligatory, and the president of Hostemur hopes for additional measures to be announced which would make re-opening a more viable prospect.
Hotels in Murcia and the rest of Spain find themselves in a similar situation to a certain extent. They too will be permitted to re-open partially as of 11th May, but with limits expected on the facilities they can offer their turnover will be significantly lower than usual.
Communal areas such as swimming pools will remain closed at first, and with travel within Spain restricted until well into June, Soledad Díaz (president of the Hostetur association) anticipates that guests will be travelling only short distances and requesting short stays.
The government has been quite specific that it will only permit travel within "su territorio", ie, within one's own province until 22nd June. The Region of Murcia is classed as a single province, whereas the neighbouring Region of Valencia, has three provinces, one of them Alicante province, so for example residents of Murcia will not be permitted to travel to resorts in Alicante for a break, ie Benidorm.
Second home owners will be allowed to travel to their properties within their own province, so those owning holiday apartments on La Manga del Mar Menor who live in Murcia city, will be permitted to travel to their second residence from the 25th May onwards, but apartment owners from Madrid will not be allowed to travel until after 22nd June.
This essentially limits the initial market to clients from within the Region of Murcia only, so this is likely to be residents of Murcia City for example, taking short weekend breaks on the coast as travel between provinces will be prohibited until after 22nd June.
Theoretically, travel to Murcia from other provinces of Spain will be allowed from 22nd June providing the virus is deemed to be under control and the risk to the public low, although many factors depend on this becoming reality, so theoretically hotels could be receiving visitors from Madrid after 22nd June.
International borders are currrently closed until 15th May, although it is highly likely that this will be extended, so the possibility of many foreign tourists making it into Spain is very low at the moment.
In addition, Sra Díaz foresees difficulties in making hotels ready to welcome guests by 11th May, given the work needed to install protective screens (as well as the cost) and other precautionary measures, although in one sense at least the exclusion of common areas such as pools and dining rooms will reduce the workload.
She is another who is awaiting further clarification from the government, this time in respect of exactly what is required in terms of precautions to avoid Covid-19 contagion, so that hotels do not invest unnecessarily in fixed assets which are then not required. While underlining that hoteliers in the Costa Cálida are impatient to re-open and allow staff to return to work, she also warns that the summer of 2020 will be extremely atypical in comparison with those of previous years in the tourism sector of Murcia, with far fewer guests expected and, as things stand at present, very few indeed from outside Spain.
For many hotels the money generated by a very limited market will inevitably outweigh the costs of opening and cleaning the hotel, taking on staff, offering a full service and buying in food and supplies , so will be unviable unless significant fiscal support is given to the sector.
In the meantime, remember: LOCKDOWN MEANS LOCKDOWN. STAY AT HOME. STAY SAFE AND DO YOUR BIT TO REDUCE THE SPREAD OF CORONAVIRUS.
Follow Murcia Today on Facebook to keep up to date with all the latest updates locally for the Region of Murcia and the main information for the rest of Spain: https://www.facebook.com/MurciaToday/.
Our local area groups are as follows. These are designed to filter locally specific information and may be used by clubs, charities, any of the businesses who work with us to ensure information is available to residents in English and for those living in the specific areas. They are not buy and sell groups, do not accept any bickering or argumentative so and so's, are not "open for any old rubbish" pages, and are not trying to compete with your local comunity groups, they are specifically for sharing good, relevant local information and we hope you will use them for that during this difficult time.
Around Mazarrón news, events and local info: Click to join
Mazarrón, Fuente Álamo, Águilas, Lorca, Totana, Puerto Lumbreras, Camposol, Alhama de Murcia. Click to join (all within a half hour drive of each other)
Mar Menor news, events and local info. Click to join (this includes all the Mar Menor municipalities and Cartagena)
North-west Murcia: Bullas, Mula, Cehegin, Caravaca, Cieza, Calasparra, Jumilla, Moratalla info. Click to join
What to do if you are in the Region of Murcia and believe you may have contracted the virus
The regional government has set up a special helpline to supply information to members of the public (900 121212) if they suspect that they may have contracted the virus rather than going straight to hospital or to a medical centre.
Sensible precautions
The advice being issued to members of the public by medical authorities all over the world coincides on the following points:
- Wash hands frequently with either soap and water or a sanitiser gel
- Catch coughs and sneezes with disposable tissues – and throw the tissues away immediately after use before immediately washing your hands!
- If you don’t have a tissue, use your sleeve – and wash the item of clothing used at the next opportunity
- AVOID touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands
- AVOID close contact with people who are unwell
- Don´t panic!
Cartagena
El Carmoli
Islas Menores and Mar de Cristal
La Manga Club
La Manga del Mar Menor
La Puebla
La Torre Golf Resort
La Union
Los Alcazares
Los Belones
Los Nietos
Los Urrutias
Mar Menor Golf Resort
Pilar de la Horadada
Playa Honda / Playa Paraiso
Portman
Roldan and Lo Ferro
San Javier
San Pedro del Pinatar
Santa Rosalia Lake and Life resort
Terrazas de la Torre Golf Resort
Torre Pacheco
Aledo
Alhama de Murcia
Bolnuevo
Camposol
Condado de Alhama
Fuente Alamo
Hacienda del Alamo Golf Resort
Lorca
Mazarron
Puerto de Mazarron
Puerto Lumbreras
Sierra Espuna
Totana
Abaran
Alcantarilla
Archena
Blanca
Corvera
El Valle Golf Resort
Hacienda Riquelme Golf Resort
Lorqui
Molina de Segura
Mosa Trajectum
Murcia City
Peraleja Golf Resort
Ricote
Sucina
Condado de Alhama
El Valle Golf Resort
Hacienda del Alamo Golf Resort
Hacienda Riquelme Golf Resort
Islas Menores and Mar de Cristal
La Manga Club
La Torre Golf Resort
Mar Menor Golf Resort
Mazarron Country Club
Mosa Trajectum
Peraleja Golf Resort
Santa Rosalia Lake and Life resort
Terrazas de la Torre Golf Resort
La Zenia
Lomas de Cabo Roig
CAMPOSOL TODAY Whats OnCartagena SpainCoronavirusCorvera Airport MurciaMurcia Gota Fria 2019Murcia property news generic threadWeekly Bulletin