THE bar and restaurant trade has taken a battering over recent months. If the Balearic government has their way they will not re-open until the end of the month at the earliest. The successful legal challenge which was launched in the Basque Country against the lockdown measures has given them hope. Whether this is just a “legal flash in the pan” or a “serious legal option” is too early to say, but it has given them hope. I have mixed views. I can´t understand why you can wait in a queue for your take-out but you can´t sit at a table. I also understand that bars and restaurants lead to big gatherings of people.
But surely if guidelines were safely enforced and social distancing maintained why can´t bars and restaurants, at least, re-open their terraces? It is a big question and a big call but I don´t know if many businesses will be able to survive for much longer. The Balearic government has quite rightly said that public health comes first but there is also the question of economic survival. We may win the battle against the coronavirus but find that the majority of businesses have closed. I know these are difficult times and it is a very tough call but the Balearic government sooner or later must announce a compromise deal. Let bars and restaurants, with reduced capacity and social distancing, open their terraces so at least they can have some form of revenue. We can´t keep the motor of the local economy in lockdown forever.