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Wednesday, December 11, 2024

Ibiza: no more more “covid” terraces

The Association of Bars and Restaurants requests that the use of extensions in public area Vila be extended "till Easter" due to a spike in diseases. According to the owners, "people ask to be on the terraces"in Ibiza because they are afraid to catch Covid

Today is the last day that the extra terraces that many bars and cafes enjoyed in Ibiza during the worst of the pandemic will be open. The municipality of Eivissa’s properties will have to remove tables, chairs, and furnishings that had been temporarily put from these borrowed places, both parking lots and pedestrian areas, by tomorrow. Due to the high level of contagion generated by the omicron variety, the Association of Bars and Restaurants (ABRE) requests that its use be extended until at least Easter.

Ibiza is the last municipality on the island to prohibit the extension of terraces of hospitality premises on public roads, a palliative measure adopted by councils to avoid drowning these businesses as much as possible when the government imposed severe restrictions in this sector during the worst moments of the pandemic. Today is the last day that the terraces of Vila’s bars that were temporarily built in areas originally meant for parking and pedestrian zones can stay open to the public: chairs and tables placed temporarily must be removed from those locations by tomorrow. Sant Antoni ordered their abolition on November 11th, and Santa Eulària nine days earlier.

The Consistory recalled yesterday, through a press spokesman, that an agreement had been reached some time ago “with various associations, it was agreed that the withdrawal of the extra occupation of terraces (both extensions and parking spaces) would take effect on January 7, rather than earlier, as other municipalities have already done. It also mentions that it was agreed upon that “when there were additional limits on the interior, the prospect of returning to carry out extraordinary operations to increase terraces would be considered. As there are currently none (“there are no restrictions on capacity or limit people per table or schedule”), establishments with terrace will “begin to recover the usual space granted in the licence Occupation of Public Roads of each establishment” during the month of January, as “has already been notified.”

The City Council insists that Vila has not charged for this occupation or in 2020 or 2021 in order to “assist the local regeneration via the closures of the confinement and different limits (capacity, limit of people per table, indoor closures, hours, consumption at the bar).”

At least until Easter in Ibiza

But Joan Roig, a founding member of the Ibiza Association of Bars and Restaurants (ABRE), is not satisfied: “Given that we are now dealing with the variant Omicron, it would be prudent to keep these terraces in Vila open until Easter. As a result, people would have more outside space and would spend less time indoors”. That, in his opinion, would be “a method of combating this coronavirus variation while also benefiting the sector.”  According to Roig, “indoors, there is a restriction of a metre and a half of separation between tables, as there is outdoors.”

“Given that we are now dealing with the variant Omicron, it would be prudent to keep these terraces in Vila open until Easter. As a result, people would have more outside space and would spend less time indoors”

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“Someday you have to return to normal,” acknowledges Veronica Juan, president of the Pimeef’s association of bars and restaurants, who, while noting that “everything that is outdoors is more convenient” for health, because it is more difficult to contagion, understands why Vila wants to end this exception: “If there are no capacity restrictions, I understand that the day had to come to return to normal and that the terraces were removed.  It is not justifiable to provide for extra room if there are no constraints. We knew it was going to happen one day”. However, as Roig points out, there are still certain limitations: “Today, a metre and a half of space between tables is still requested. In the absence of capacity constraints, this indicates a reduction in the number of tables in the limited space. This is a hindrance to our efforts “.

Juan is certain that “during the pandemic, Vila behaved well in terms of space concessions. He made a lot of room for himself. However, he believes that “even if we acknowledge that we cannot continue as we are now, there are specific circumstances that should be investigated” in order for some premises to reclaim that excess surface area.

For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.

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