Ibiza By Night supports Spain Nightlife and we will finish constant news about the Spanish situation. We received and we publish this press note.
Spain Nightlife meets with the Ministry of Tourism of Spain to address the challenges that the industry is facing towards the stages of reopening.
Nightlife venues demand the need for terraces to safely tackle reopening.
Nightlife venues will not recover its activity until July, requiring a specific aid plan that recognizes its special vulnerability beginning with the application of the super-reduced VAT to a 4% and the flexibility of the temporary labor force adjustment (ERTE).
The virtual meeting that took place this week between the head of the Cabinet of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism of the Government of Spain, Juan Ignacio Díaz, with the main Spanish nightlife associations, Spain Nightlife and España de Noche, whose presidents are José Luis Benítez and Ramón Mas, respectively, have headed the representation of both organizations.
The meeting allowed analyzing in detail the critical situation of the nightlife sector, bearing in mind that its reincorporation to the “new normality” will take place in the last stage of reopening and specifically in phase 3, but subject to important restrictions that make it impossible to recover its activity before the month of July and that in many cases will be delayed until the next month of September.
Taking into account the special complexity of the reopening calendar for the industry, Spanish nightlife business owners have addressed the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism of the Spanish Government with a BATTERY OF URGENT MEASURES that are necessary to avoid the destruction of the business network within the nightlife industry.
TEN MEASURES TO SAVE SPANISH NIGHTLIFE
As a starting point, both associations demand the recognition of nightlife as a particularly sensitive and vulnerable sector, which will recover its activity in the last stage of the reopening. So, it is considered necessary to have a specific Aid Plan for nightlife using the resources of the Recovery Fund of the European Union.
In this context, the sector claims its participation through CEOE in the Tripartite Labor Monitoring Commission, which guarantees its direct participation in it in a timely manner but that allows the specific problem of nightlife to be analyzed with knowledge of the cause.
Regarding employees, and insisting on the uniqueness of the reopening calendar of the sector, it is necessary to have a flexible framework and tools that allow the expansion of temporary labor force adjustment (ERTEs) due to “force majeure” until the normal operation of the activity recovers and until December.
Likewise, it is essential that the discounts of worker’s Social Security payments who remain in the ERTE are maintained to support the gradual and progressive recovery of the activity of the nightlife venues, and, in this sense, we demand to recover the same Social Security discounts for unaffected ERTE employees.
On the other hand, we ask for the lowering of the VAT tax rate, which allows for the extraordinary reduction to the super reduced rate of 4% during the transition period and at least until March 31, 2021.
In addition, taking into account the activity of recreational venues such as hospitality, and which in many territories allows them to have TERRACES, it is necessary to facilitate the opening of the terraces in nightlife venues starting from phase 1 and facilitate the incorporation of authorizations to the entire recreational sector, allowing them to resume their activity partially, outdoors in the entrance of venues, in the same way that conventional hospitality does.
Regarding venues located on beach coasts, it is necessary to demand the reduction of the costal occupancy taxes, as well as those required by the port authority.
When it comes to the payment of rent, it is necessary to approve a suspension of the payment of these for a period of 6 months and the extension of the validity of the rental contracts for a period equal to that of the suspension of payments for lack of activity.
Another point is to clarify the wording of the Decrees that establish the criteria for reopening, and which, in the case of venue capacity, should refer to the safe capacity linked to the surface of the premises. This way the social distance can be guaranteed and avoid the restrictive administrative criteria that many municipalities use when calculating the capacity of public establishments.
From the presentation of the sector’s proposals, the head of the Cabinet of the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Juan Ignacio Díaz, has shown his interest in relation to the business proposals and the desire to maintain channels of dialogue between the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism and both nightlife associations.
