ARCHIVED - Cartagena Mayoress will close bars again if residents don´t respect social distancing
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
She is not alone: other local Mayors are also angry that rules are not being respected, putting us all at risk of further contagion
On Monday we entered phase one of de-escalation and although the majority of residents went out into the streets cautiously and respected the calls for social distancing during the daytime, the evening was another matter altogether, and the regional TV on Monday and Tuesday was full of images showing conglomerations in the streets of our major cities.
The centre of Murcia city was depicted full and busy, with thousands of people enjoying a chat with friends in close proximity to one another, the centre of Cartagena was full, principally with young people chatting in groups outside bars and in the streets, mainly without masks, in Santiago de la Ribera police forcibly closed a bar after locals complained that it was packed to the brim , in Yecla the local police were called in to move people on as there were so many people packed in to the town centre and bars……
Police concluded a busy evening with three arrests and 271 denuncias for failing to comply with the state of emergency regulations.
The owner of a bar in Cartagena was warned by the police who were called in by local residents, open-mouthed at the size of the gathering next to their homes. The bar owner has been warned that should there be a repeat of the scenes on Monday evening, then he will face a stiff fine. 21 people were fined in Cartagena on Monday night; several of them were drunk.
The Mayoress of Cartagena, Ana Belén Castejón called for responsibility, warning
"If citizens and hoteliers do not demonstrate the responsibility that has been displayed so far, we risk losing everything that has been gained so far. It is essential that health and social distancing regulations are complied with ”, she said.
On Monday we entered phase one of de-escalation “but that does not imply that the health crisis has ended or that we are free of infections. We cannot afford to take a step backwards. Citizens and business owners must understand that Phase 1 is not a blank cheque. If we do not act correctly, we run the risk of the same thing happening as has already occurred in other areas, where there has been an upturn in the number of cases and it has been necessary to reinforce the confinement, closing bars and shops. That would be a hard blow that we must avoid and there is only one way to do it; respecting social distancing as much as possible,” she said in a video broadcast.
The head of the Cartagena Hostelry association has called for “responsibility” from its members, praising the attitude of the majority of bars and restaurants who have worked hard to prepare for re-opening and are complying rigidly with the restrictions as they are keen to get back to work and earn some money after two disastrous months of losses.
The regional health minister, Manuel Villegas, also called for a “major effort by everyone” to avoid the “distressing images” broadcast on Monday evening, "we hope that people understand that we are playing to continue moving forward, and are going to do it well", he said.
Other Mayors have also expressed their irritation at the bad behaviour of the minority on Monday and confirmed that they too would withdraw hostelry licences, close bars down and expect their local businesses to comply with the regulations which have been established to protect the population from the further spread of the virus.
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