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The new normality stays up late a little and is going to have it more and more difficult. The unstoppable increase in coronavirus cases in the last week has led health authorities to announce new restrictions on nightlife in the last few hours . Although the sector is already subject to regulations -limitation of capacity and prohibition to dance in discotheques, for example- that make the reopening of many venues unfeasible, the numerous outbreaks associated with these places mean that even the possibility of a closure during the summer, the most profitable season for the sector.

Health authorities focus on pubs and discos, where it is more difficult to maintain self-protection and distances as the night progresses. In the Community of Madrid and in Catalonia the new rules can be promulgated next week. "We will take measures regarding nightlife," said the Deputy Minister of Public Health of the Community of Madrid, Enrique Ruiz Escudero, this Friday. His words came only hours after they recognized from Catalonia that they are studying restricting meetings and closing all activities in that time slot. "Perhaps, at some moments, we do not have to stay late at night," said the Generalitat's Secretary of Public Health on Thursday, who pointed out, without giving more details, that at that time "socialization is different."

Other communities have not waited that long. Cantabria has announced this Friday that these establishments will have to close at 2 in the morning. The new hours will apply in bars, restaurants, discos and in general in all leisure venues. The meetings will have a limit of 15 people.

The same measure had been adopted by Navarra on Thursday. The Provincial Government limited the meetings to ten people and on Thursday decreed the closure of bars, clubs, game rooms, societies and clubs at 2 in the morning . From that time on, the bottle is also prohibited.

Two days before, on Tuesday, the Government of Murcia , in addition to limiting the meetings to 15 people, had suspended the activity inside the discotheques , pubs and bars. Customer service was limited to the terraces and outdoor spaces and with the limitation, likewise, of two in the morning.

The Balearic Islands had already opted on July 15 for the total closure in very specific areas. The Government of Armengol closed until new order all the premises in the most conflictive area of Magaluf and Arenal after videos of ethylic crowds of tourists were released during the previous weekend.

The habit of sharing drinks outdoors, which the nightlife sector calls unfair competition, is also in the spotlight. Like Navarra, the Xunta de Galicia expressly banned the bottle a week ago.

Castilla-La Mancha will approach the problem from another perspective. The regional government plans to approve in the coming weeks a "special regulation" to identify, with ID and phone number , those who go to nightlife venues from 1:00. He believes that this would facilitate the tracking of contacts if necessary.

All these limitations are added to those that accompany the setbacks in the de-escalation, as has happened in Totana (Murcia) or in the phase 2 areas of Aragón (closing at 12 at night, bottle ban). And, as has happened with the obligatory nature of the mask , they can gradually spread to other communities. The president of the Andalusian Government , Juanma Moreno, has called a meeting for Monday with the mayors of the eight provincial capitals to also address limitations on nightlife.

The sector denounces an "unfair" debate

The restrictions already imposed and those that are coming have generated great discomfort in the sector. This Friday, the Association of Entrepreneurs for Nightlife of the Community of Madrid and the organization La Noche en Vivo have stated that 70% of the locals in this community are closed and have described the debate on their responsibility as "profoundly unfair" in coronavirus outbreaks.

The night's businessmen propose creating a digital health registry that would allow those who have been in a location to be contacted if contagions were detected in that environment. They have branded in addition to "children's initiative" a possible closure that, in their opinion, would aggravate the problem. "Without a regulated nightlife, nightlife impossible to control would develop in a massive way throughout the Community," said Dionisio Lara, president of Noche Madrid.

A study carried out by associations in the sector estimated a year ago that night-time leisure tourism had grown in the last decade to stand at 30% of total Spanish tourism.

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  • Catalonia
  • Murcia
  • Navarre
  • Madrid
  • Madrid's community
  • Castilla la Mancha
  • Cantabria
  • Balearics
  • Aragon
  • Coronavirus
  • Covid 19

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