In a new step towards normality, bars and restaurants can now open until two in the morning and serve at the bar. Some waiters had already forgotten what it was like to serve a beer to a customer sitting in front of them, although the measures approved by the Govern are so twisted that they seem to have a dissuasive purpose: to use the bar you must be eating and remain seated. But for every law, there is a loophole.
“You can’t imagine how happy I was this morning to remove the tape from the bar,” says Iván Ribera, owner of Al-Andalus, in Sant Antoni. He can’t even remember the last time he served a beer on it. The first thing he has done, after removing the tape, is to place two high chairs every metre and a half. The length of the bar does not allow for more than three pairs. But better than than nothing.
The first customers who used the Palco Illusion bar after being closed for months. The owner, José Vingut, cleared it as soon as he found out yesterday and didn’t have to wait until today. Vicent Marí
The Executive’s new provisions, decided at Friday’s Consell de Govern, contain two strange requirements for being served at the bar: you must be seated and you have to eat. The agreement specifies that “the service and consumption of food at the bar, with or without drinks, is permitted until midnight each day and for groups of a maximum of two people, provided that there is a minimum of 1.5 metres between people or groups of customers”. And seated. Not standing. And you have to chew. But for every law, there is a loophole: “Well, I’ll put a biscuit for coffee and I’ll continue serving a tapa with every beer, as always”, says Ribera. “If you eat a piece of toast with tomato sitting at the bar, you don’t get infected, but if you only drink a coffee, you do”, he asks.
Taka will not open the one in Surikata, because if he did, he would need more staff, an expense that he cannot afford at this time. Vicent Marí
He understands that something like that would apply in a pub or a discotheque, where the abuse of spirits often leads “to an affectionate declaration of friendship. But here, in this bar? No, he replies when asked if a regular bar-goer has ever been very affectionate with him.
In Sa Nova Plaça they have for the moment kept the bar area closed. Vicent Marí
The new measures, which will last until 3 July, are a relief for him: “We can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but now we need more movement. There are no tourists,” he says. He estimates that his bar is already operating at 50% of what it was before the pandemic: “There is one more step to go. Many of my clients are still on ERTE and can’t afford to be happy. When tourists arrive and they are hired, it will be a different story.
In the Gran Vía cafeteria they doubted whether clients could be served at the bar. Vicent Marí
“At last,” sighs Joan Roig, one of the founders of the Asociación de Bares y Restaurantes de Ibiza (Association of Bars and Restaurants of Ibiza, ABRE): “At last it’s here. At least until two o’clock in the morning, bars and restaurants can now open. And survive. When the limit was at midnight, they were encouraging binge drinking. Let’s see if that stops now. He then lets out a heartfelt “hallelujah”. No wonder. The measure is a relief for the sector, but not everyone can count on it. More than a few restaurants have had to close their doors for good: “It’s a respite that comes too late for many, I estimate for 30% of the businesses”.
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