What was a probability on Wednesday was confirmed yesterday by the Balearic Minister of Tourism, Iago Negueruela, to the manager of Ocio de Ibiza, José Luis Benítez, in an early morning telephone conversation: the clubs have permission to open their doors from Monday 26 July… unless the pandemic breaks out, of course. And what the sector is most excited about: music will be able to be played in all the venues, both on the outdoor and indoor dance floors, Benítez assures that the councillor informed him. In all of them.
After the doubts that the councillor for the Presidency, Mercedes Garrido, raised on Wednesday in her appearance, implying that the opening was only a possibility that still had to be studied, the councillor herself confirmed yesterday to Ocio de Ibiza that they have a free dance floor from the 26th of July, both open and enclosed clubs. After hanging up the phone, Benítez immediately called an urgent meeting – held yesterday afternoon – with the partners (40 venues, half a dozen clubs) to explain “what can be done”.
According to Benítez, “the idea is to maintain the same guidelines that were followed in the pilot test conducted at the Hard Rock Hotel Ibiza on June 25″. According to the Govern, it was an example to follow in order to make nightlife safe. They still don’t have all the details of how the opening will be and the limits that will be established: “There are still several things to be clarified, such as the interior and exterior capacity”.
The sector, which employs around 3,000 people in the case of the companies belonging to the association, now has almost three weeks ahead to activate their clubs and hire staff. The latter will not be easy, as Benítez admits: “It takes between a month to a month and a half for a large club to be set up. Some had already started because they thought they would open earlier”. They are “very big companies, with a lot of workers, that need a lot of preparation” and that are going to have “problems hiring people to work just a month and a half”.
And for less than 90 days is possible that some venues will opt to remain closed : “We will have much less income, as we will have to carry out more controls and limit the capacity. It’s not that we consider the season to be lost… There will be those brave enough to open, but it will be a very difficult mini-season”. He believes, in this sense, that “30%, at most 40% of the entrepreneurs will dare to open. Our good months are July and August. September is weaker, it is not very good, and October is dedicated to closings. We have already lost the whole of July, what do we do, open in August, for only one month? It will be complicated, there will be many who prefer to remain as they are”.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.