The classic cocktail bars, in danger: "They have nailed us the last thrust"

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"Due to the new regulations in force in relation to the schedules set by the Community of Madrid,

.

The poster stands out at the doors of the famous Josealfredo bar, closed tight for months in these times of coronavirus. Like him, many other classic cocktail bars in Madrid languish.

Some, such as

, have temporarily closed.

Others, such as Del Diego or Salmón Gurú, barely survive against

lack of clientele and restricted hours.

to close

nightlife

to stop expansion

of Covid-19

and the

latest restrictions

imposed in Madrid by the Ministry of Health have given them the last straw. "We are fighting to keep our company afloat, but we do not cover expenses. They have nailed us the last thrust so that

.

Why do we have to close at 10pm?

What happens that the virus infects at night, but does not do it in the morning? ", Criticizes the well-known barman Diego Cabrera. The billing of his bars Salmón Gurú and Viva Madrid

Since last Friday the measure of not admitting new customers after 10 p.m. and closing an hour later came into force. Cabrera argues that it is much safer for people to have a cocktail in his bar, where the distance is kept security and the tables are disinfected, to be consumed in the street or in the houses, where

. "They have taken the nightlife

, but I do not see any social distance in the subway nor do I observe that taxis are disinfected every time a passenger gets on, "he complains. The barman Fernando del Diego is of the same opinion, who is also annoyed because

to the nightlife of coronavirus infections.

.

Bars are not to blame for all infections.

People get infected in the subway, on the beaches ... In my bar, clients sit at a table, get up and leave.

He has no contact with the rest, "he explains indignantly. Del Diego also regrets that the well-known and famous Madrid night has vanished like foam:

.

It is totally shattered.

Madrid now looks like Albacete.

Is dead.

Starting at 10 at night, people disappear from the center and it resembles a ghost town.

In the neighborhoods there is more life. "

"We are not discos. Here people have a quiet drink"

Josealfredo Bar

At least, Cabrera has been able to open his two cocktail bars, since there are other older establishments that have a special bar license and cannot start, because they are incorporated in

the nightlife sector

Its owners criticize the inclusion of cocktail bars in

the same jacket as the discos

, when they are totally different businesses. "We are not a disco where people dance. We are a bar where

people come quiet to have a drink

.

I have booths with armchairs where social distance is maintained and, at the bar, we placed clients separately.

I don't understand why I have to close, while the bar opposite, which puts out beers, is open.

We only ask to work like them, "laments Gonzalo Méndez, one of the members of the Josealfredo bar. Pessimism spreads in a sector that has not raised its head since the State of Alarm was decreed." We have all the employees at Erte and we have I have

delay your mortgage payment

.

They have given us some help, but the future looks very black ", argues Méndez. The Chicote Museum, another of the capital's mythical cocktail bars, has been closed since March. Its owners had planned

reopen it this September

, but, with the new confinement decreed in Madrid, the opening has been canceled.

In fact, it has had to do

on-line

the delivery of the Chicote Awards to Martín Berasategui, José Mercé, Vanesa Martín, María Pombo and Emma García. "With this situation it is impossible to open Chicote. Things are very annoyed. Politicians continue to hit each other and without giving a solution. economic uncertainty is dangerous, we have the handicap that

we are located on Gran Vía and we live off tourists, who have not come this year "

, admits Raúl Gómez, communication director of the Mercado de la Reina group.The group plans to open the Mercado de la Reina today, with the aim that the people of Madrid who

They cannot go out this year through the Puente del Pilar

come to the center to eat and taste one of its famous gin and tonic.

Loyal clientele

At the Del Diego cocktail bar they have had to

readjust schedules

.

If before they could close at 1, with the new measures they must close at 11, which has brought their opening to 5:00 p.m., to reinforce the

afterwork

, the after-work drink. Fernando del Diego, one of the two partners of the premises, declares that they are subsisting thanks to their years of experience:

"We are a family cocktail bar and we have been sowing

.

We have very controlled expenses and a loyal clientele, but the outlook is horrible.

There were 20 businesses on my street and only four are open. "Alberto Martínez, owner of 1862 Dry Bar and Santos y Desamparados,

the paradox lives in their flesh

of the prohibition: the Dry Bar, which has a normal bar license, is open.

On the contrary, Santos y Desamparados, with a special bar license, has had to remain closed, although they are negotiating a solution. “It is unfair that the closure is determined by the type of license and not by the security of the premises and the separation between the tables .

The situation is terrible

.

I understand that the capacity is restricted, but not the closing time.

What happens that the virus infects at midnight, but not at 3:00 pm? ”, Concludes Martínez.

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