The decision on night-life restrictions is dragging on. Now, the Catalan government has 48 hours to defend the measures on nightlife after Fecasarm’s management filed an appeal before the High Court of Catalonia (TSJC) asking for explanations for the restrictions. This is what the Catalan high court decided today, Thursday, after rejecting the precautionary measures requested by management. That is, the court has refused to force an urgent reopening without hearing the administration’s version, and will rule once it has heard all parties.
Specifically, the court points out that "it does not yet have enough information" to decide, and that is why it has to listen to the Catalan government. "It is difficult, with the means, arguments and reasons submitted in the appeal, to suspend or even adopt a positive precautionary measure without first informing the parties, and understanding the need and proportionality of the measures adopted," argues the High Court.
Appeal by Fecasarm
For this reason, it now "grants a short period of time for the defendant public administration to present its arguments" in order to be able to pronounce itself.
On Monday 23rd, Fecasarm filed an appeal against the extension of restrictions on catering and nightlife to curb the fifth wave of the pandemic, which are "disproportionate and arbitrary", and proposed new opening hours. In addition, management considers that the fact that the High Court of Catalonia overturned the curfew makes its appeal "even stronger", welcoming the decision to suspend it.
Extending opening hours
Currently, the main restrictions on nightlife are opening hours (catering can remain open until midnight) and the ban on gatherings of over ten people. Fecasarm proposes that restaurants should be allowed to open until 1am, while nightlife should be allowed to open until 3.30am, with 30 minutes to vacate the premises.
Fecasarm pointed out that the extension of opening hours should only be allowed in those localities with an accumulative seven-day incidence (IA7) lower than 250 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, the indicator used by the Catalan government to apply the curfew. Moreover, the Spanish ministry of Health considers that if the incidence exceeds this volume of cases, there is a situation of extreme risk due to covid. Likewise, the federation has defended that catering and nightlife activities should be open to people who present a previous negative test, who are fully vaccinated or who have recovered from covid-19, the same conditions as the health passport.
3.68% turnover
Yesterday, Fecalon’s management denounced that, during August, nightlife venues in Catalonia had a 3.68% turnover when compared to 2019. This is reflected in their study on the impact of covid-19 in the sector, in which they note that only 8.2% of respondents covered their expectations for the summer.
However, they claim that figures show "the collapse of the sector" for the second summer in a row and demand a "change of course" from the Catalan government, with "open and regulated" leisure activities in order to avoid illegal parties and street drinking. They demand an "immediate" "reactivation plan" that allows venues to recover 100% of their activity during the month of September