Nightclub owners in Andalucia fear proposed Covid entry rules could result in more closures

Nightclub owners in the region of Andalucia Spain fear proposed new Covid entry rules could result in more closures in the sector.
Nightclub owners have warned that the new measures that have been proposed (without consensus with the sector) will certainly cause the closure of more businesses the majority of young people (their main clientele) do not have the full vaccination regime.
The Nightlife sector has felt singled out by the owners since the pandemic broke out. With the onset of confinement, they turned off the music and the lights and closed the shutters for a longer period than they had imagined at the time.
After over a year of restrictions, bars and discotheques have not been able to overcome the economic halt in their activity and in the worst cases, some businesses have closed down for good.
Now, the measure proposed by the Junta de Andalucía to require the covid certificate or a negative test as a condition for access to the interior of their premises has once again upset the sector.
The vice-president of Andalucía de Noche and president of Málaga de Noche, Juan Rambla, assessed this Wednesday the Junta’s proposal on 101 Television News. He confirmed that, although the measure does not seem bad to them, “a deadline has not been established to apply it, nor has consensus been sought with the professionals of the sector”.
Rambla focused on another fundamental issue: “There is no deadline for the population that we have to ask for the digital certificate to have the opportunity to be vaccinated”. According to the Covid-19 report by the Regional Ministry of Health – updated on Wednesday, July 4, – only 18.2% of Andalusians aged between 20 and 29 are fully immunised and in the province of Malaga, this percentage stands at 16.9%.
For the majority of the young population to have a covid certificate is a long wait, weeks that nightlife venues do not have.
The Andalucía de Noche demand that the regional administration’s proposal be approved by the courts and that the measure be applied, and that the restrictions on opening hours and capacity be eliminated.
“If we are going to create safe spaces within our establishments, we do not understand why we continue to maintain the restrictions we currently have”, explained Rambla. He also admitted to 101 Televisión that they are “tired of seeing how there are continually private and clandestine parties all over the place, where there is no compliance with any kind of measures”.
The sector’s perspective is that contagion among young people is increasing due to mass gatherings organised privately or in the street, such as the botellones on Malaga’s beaches before they close at night.
“It is much better for the public to be in our premises and not at these clandestine parties. We insist on legislating with our backs to reality. The reality is that young people don’t want to go to bed at two in the morning”, and based on this argument, Andalucía de Noche asks the Junta to remove the rest of the restrictions if the covid certificate requirement is definitively applied,” he said.

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