Pride revives the Chueca trade: "We have sold as if there were no pandemic"

The streets of the downtown district live the hangover of the most important day of pride with satisfaction.

It is the area that has sold the most in this celebration and it shows: at 4:00 p.m. in the afternoon there is not a single free table in Plaza Chueca.

"What was expected has been fulfilled, in terms of influx," says the President of Hospitality in Madrid, José Antonio Aparicio.

That is the blessing, and the problem, "that it is very concentrated in the areas where there are concerts," he says.

A street sweeper on Gravina Street rests on the sidewalk.

The worst is over, she says that "this morning the floor was full of cans."

She is not the only one experiencing the ravages of the bottle.

They also notice it in the ice cream parlor in Plaza de Chueca, where "as of 9:00 p.m. so many people stop coming because families don't come here with their children because people are drinking," says Rodrigo, one of the workers of this establishment, who, the rest of the day "has noticed many more sales".

They appreciate it.

When the numbers of infections did not stop rising, two years ago "they even had to close."

This year color and people have flooded the streets.

The forecasts according to the president of the Hotel Industry in Madrid were 400 thousand people, he affirms that these days "about 300 thousand or 350 people" have experienced Pride in the bars and restaurants of Madrid.

This celebration has revived sales.

These are good numbers, "the normal evolution of Pride."

He refers to the pandemic: "It has not been noticed that it has existed," says Aparicio.

Although the expense is not what was expected.

The general average that had been foreseen was between 40 and 80 euros per person per day.

The reality, assures Aparicio, places it at "50 or 55 euros".

It is not what they predicted but they are satisfied.

Little international tourism

The terraces on the last day of this celebration are full and nobody carries rainbow flags but they continue to be bought.

In the bazaar of the square her employee comments that what is sold the most is this piece of cloth "with hearts".

"I can't tell you anything because we're at the top" they say at Taberna Chueca, which at 5:30 p.m. has all its tables full.

And customers, this week, "have doubled and tripled the figures for a normal week."

Despite the fact that the suitcases are part of the landscape of Gravina Street, the president of the Hoteliers assures that Madrid has lived this week from the national client.

"Because of mobility restrictions, the foreigners who used to come don't come," says Aparicio.

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