Around twenty hospitality sector businesspeople and workers held a protest outside the Balearic government's Consolat de Mar headquarters on Monday. They were protesting against the latest closure of bar and restaurant interiors and were demanding that state financial aid is "truly direct".
The president of Foro Baleares, Victor Sánchez, was critical of the order to close interiors just a week after they had reopened. It was a decision that was hard to understand based on "a slight increase in contagion".
He said that hospitality was once more being blamed, while thousands of people were being allowed into shopping centres. "People are aware. In bars they only remove masks when consuming."
There were two banners. One had an image of President Armengol with a glass in her hand. The other demanded the government's resignation - "If I don't work, you don't get paid".
Sánchez observed that "whoever has a terrace can close the interior, while the rest have to close their lives". He added that the regional government is boasting of there being direct aid when this is not true. Only businesses without debts with the administration can access this aid.
Diego Belmonte of the Calvia employers and workers association demanded that the aid is genuinely direct so that it can serve small businesses. He and Sánchez referred to double standards in the application of restrictions, sanctions and inspections. These are harming small businesses and benefiting hoteliers "through cronyism".