Bars and restaurants in Spain holiday destination Mallorca say summer reopening of terraces 'common sense' way to help sector recover from coronavirus crisis blow

BARS and terraces in Mallorca want to reopen their terraces for business this summer once the State of Alarm obligatory confinement comes to an end as a ‘common sense’ way of helping the sector recover from the hammer blow of the coronavirus crisis.
The president of CAEB Confederation of Balearic Business Associations Catering Alfonso Robledo said this would allow establishments to partially get up and running again, albeit following strict measures on hygiene and safety, meaning they can get some money coming in and get staff laid off due to the lockdown working again.
Robledo described the idea as a “realistic proposal,” enabling the bars and restaurants with terraces of the 9,500 there are in Mallorca to open during the season and recover part of their activity before the end the year, “taking all the necessary hygiene precautions for personnel and customers.
“If all the industrial estates are already open, I do not see why bars and restaurants cannot open their outdoor areas, not their indoor dining rooms, as they have done in other countries around us,” he questioned.
The organisation accepts the measure would not be an effective solution for the whole hospitality and catering sector, but says it would enable the great majority to reactivate a percentage of their business and recover some jobs, income and life in the islands’ streets and squares.
It also stressed that at the same time owners of establishments with terraces would apply extraordinary measures to protect their employees, both working in the kitchens and those dealing directly with customers.
The association has at the same time called on local councils to take the new health scenario into account and permit the use of more and larger terrace areas so that there can be the sufficient distance between tables to comply with social distancing recommendations.