Locals in Majorca have been left outraged by new plans that could cause chaos for Brits heading to Spain for their summer holidays. Spain’s employment minister, Yolanda Díaz, said on Monday that restaurants staying open until one in the morning was “crazy” and has proposed they shut earlier.
Díaz argues for shorter workweeks and adjusting closing times by one hour due to the detrimental effects on the mental health of hospitality staff working past 10pm.
The minister said: “It is not reasonable for Spain to be a country where we convene meetings at 8pm. It is not reasonable for a country that has its restaurants open at 1am.”
She said that the late-night culture of Spain and the opening of restaurants into the night puts the country out of step with the rest of Europe.
Alfonso Robledo, president of the CAEB Restaurants Association in Majorca, has said that Díaz’s proposal is “a nonsense”.
He added: “Spain is a tourist country, we are the joy of the world. If we close our bars and restaurants earlier, no one will want to come.
“It would be counterproductive for one of the main engines of the Spanish economy; the first, in the case of the Balearic Islands.”
Robledo said that the town hall has the power to determine closing hours on the island and Díaz’s proposal would be “an interference” with these powers.
He also denies that she has met with the Spanish restaurant employers’ association. He said: “I am part of that association and it is totally false that she has met with us.”
The president of the restaurants association believes the employment minister is only making the proposal as a means to divert attention from a pandemic scandal.
But not all agree with Robledo, especially due to the financial stress on restaurants.
One hospitality worker told Euronews: “We already cut customers, we cut with the pandemic, and we cut the closure; we are only going to dedicate ourselves to pay taxes and collect zero.”
