In Rennes, the bar owners between anger and resignation

Illustration of customers in front of bars, here in rue Saint-Michel.

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• From this Wednesday, the bars will have to close at 11 p.m. in Rennes.

• The measure, taken on Monday by the prefect, aims to curb the coronavirus epidemic which has been actively circulating since the start of the school year in the Breton capital.

• For the profession, already hard hit by the health crisis, the pill is struggling to pass.

The weather has been good in recent days in Rennes and makes you want to prolong the aperitif on the terrace.

But from this Wednesday, it will be impossible to slip on half past midnight in the Breton capital.

By decision of the prefecture, all bars will have to lower the curtain at 11 p.m. until the end of the month at least.

A shock measure decided on Monday by the authorities to try to curb the coronavirus epidemic which has been particularly active since the start of the school year in Rennes, especially among young people.

# COVID19 |

🔴 The department of # IlleEtVilaine is placed in an active circulation zone for the virus.

Prefect Michèle Kirry has decided to take new measures, adapted to the local context, to curb the spread of the virus.

▶ ️All the info: https://t.co/m2naL0zd30 pic.twitter.com/3RbEqeEqrp

- Prefect of Brittany and Ille-et-Vilaine (@bretagnegouv) September 14, 2020

In a sector already hard hit by the health crisis, this tightening of the screws is difficult to pass.

"We are the ones to drink again," laments Claude Panon.

Patron of the night bar In the Indian summer, he is forced to close his establishment until the end of the month.

"As a night bar, I realize 90% of my turnover between 12:30 am and 3:00 am, so it is not worth the trouble to open", indicates the manager, who will put his five employees partial unemployment.

"Everyone finds himself punished because of some"

Member of the management committee of the Union of trades and hospitality industries (Umih) in Ille-et-Vilaine, François de Pena does not take offense either.

He especially targets the prefect who “stigmatizes an entire profession” with his decree.

“The vast majority of bar owners apply the protocol to the letter in their establishment,” he says.

But because of some bad students, everyone ends up being punished.

The prefect has been asked for weeks to organize checks and penalize those at fault, but nothing has been done… ”

A waiter in a bar in the city center, Louis does not want to blame others.

“I'm lucky to work in a bar that is quite spaced out and with a large terrace, so it's easier for us to enforce the instructions,” he says.

But I also understand that it is more complicated for other establishments where customers quickly find themselves stuck tight.

And the servers cannot be behind every customer to police ”.

"People are not going to stop drinking after 11 pm"

Working in a bar on the always lively rue Saint-Michel, Raphaël can attest to this.

“It's sometimes complicated to manage all this flow,” he says.

But we can't prevent people from going out either.

Besides the economic impact, François de Pena also fears that the measure is ineffective from a health point of view.

"As in the days of prohibition, people will not stop drinking after 11 pm," said the trade unionist.

They will therefore turn to private parties in apartments and that will only shift the problem ”.

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