Salou. Costa Dorada. 19 July 2021.
The new measures to restrict the spread of the pandemic decreed by the Generalitat de Catalunya have outraged the commercial sector of Salou and the City Council, since the maximum allowed closing time is 10 at night. On the other hand, the sector and the consistory think that a first-rate tourist municipality like Salou should have a different treatment to be able to close at 12.30 pm, like other activities.
The mayor of Salou, Pere Granados, has said that "throughout the pandemic, the commerce sector is one of those that has worked the best, complying with all health recommendations and laws." In addition, he added that "we, as a tourist municipality, have always had a different closing time", since "our activity, coastal trade, is very different from that of the interior", and has lamented the "lack of sensitivity towards the tourist event "of the Catalan government, which it has asked to rectify.
For his part, the Councilor for Dynamization, Héctor Maiquez, explained that "we are aware that the evolution of the pandemic conditions all activity", but "it is important that the measures are surgical and are taken with a true knowledge of the field at the which are applied in order not to unnecessarily harm a sector, that of commerce, which has already suffered enough ”.
The president of the Association Shopping Salou Merchants and Entrepreneurs, Julio Vilaplana, thanked the City Council for its support, and expressed the feeling of "frustration" of the commerce before a measure that they consider unfair and of little sensitivity towards the commercial sector.
The representative of the merchants has highlighted the effort that the sector has made in investments so that "businesses are safe", and has said that "decisions of this type all they do is sink the commerce sector, which is already sufficiently affected".
Elaine McParland, president of the Business Association of the Tourist Zone of Salou (ASETS), and several Salou merchants and businessmen affected by the new measure, which takes two hours away from them to be able to sell to the public on a daily basis, have also attended the press conference to also express their rejection of the government decree.
