The protesters say that they are being held responsible for the contagions of the pandemic in Portugal and were in front of the National Theater Dona Maria II, surrounded by a visible police apparatus, where they made themselves heard and left some complaints that always concluded the same: “restoration and culture are dying!”. Those present, wearing a mask and with some social distance, held up posters that read the main demands of these sectors.
QThey claim to be the scapegoat of the pandemic and claim to be the biggest security enforcers, but say that, despite this, they have been the most affected.
“They are killing 100 percent of restaurants for three percent of contagion,” read a sign. “We want to work, let us live” or “There is no health without an economy” were other phrases that were read on the posters of some protesters.
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During the protest, the protesters appealed to residents to bypass the confinement and leave the house to participate in the protest, arguing that as the right to demonstrate remains enshrined even with the new state of emergency, anyone protesting does not have to comply with the mandatory recollection. .
Organizers complain that they have been forced to fire workers, notably in the cultural entertainment sector, but also in catering, hotels, nightclubs and bars and tourist transport.
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The protest is part of the “A Pão e Água” movement, led by chef Ljubomir Stanisic kitchen. The owners of restaurants, bars, clubs and cafes demand the lifting of the obligation to close doors at 1 pm and ask for a package of financial aid for the sector.
Commerce and restaurants started this Saturday the first of two weekends when they can only open between 8 am and 1 pm, under a state of emergency – a measure contested by several business associations.
Extraordinary support for catering by closing on weekends
The Economy Minister also said this Saturday that the exceptional support to restaurants in the municipalities covered by the state of emergency, to compensate them for the lost revenue in these two weekends, will reach 25 million euros.
At issue is an exceptional measure and complementary to others that already exist for the catering sector, consisting of support equivalent to 20 percent of lost revenue this weekend and the next, compared to the average billing for all weekends this year.
In a press conference, the minister explained that in the specific case of this support, the calculation of the average loss of revenue is made by comparison with the weekends of the first nine months of the year because the objective is to compensate these companies for what they could invoice if they were open.
The country has been in a state of emergency since November 9 and until November 23, a period during which there is a mandatory curfew in counties with the highest risk of contagion and neighboring municipalities. During the week, the curfew must be respected between 11 pm and 5 am, while on weekends circulation is limited between 1 pm on Saturday and 5 am on Sunday and between 1 pm on Sunday and 5 am on Monday .
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Thus, this exceptional support, which will be paid in December, iwill join the 1,103 million euros that have already been made available or are announced for the catering sector, which includes 286 million euros through the simplified lay-off and the support for the progressive recovery, 12 million euros through Adapt program and 580 million euros in credit lines. The data released this Saturday by the minister indicate that of the 750 million euros contemplated in the Apoiar.pt program, 200 million euros will be absorbed by the catering sector.
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Pedro Siza Vieria also stated during the press conference held in Lisbon, that the first payments of Apoiar.pt are expected to be made as early as December.
“We are confident that during the month of December we can be making the first payments”, said Siza Vieira.
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The invoice data communicated by the catering sector to the Finance Portal allows you to complete the Turnover drop compared to 2019 was 1,860 million euros (31 percent less) in the first nine months of 2020, showing that the restoration situation is “significantly loss of revenue” and “the difficult impact resulting from this pandemic”.
The minister noted, however, that these billing losses “are not necessarily due to the measures taken by the Government”, but mainly to the drop in demand and the “disappearance of a very important segment of demand [o turismo] beyond our control “.
In this context, he stressed that the Government will continue to work to mitigate the impact of this crisis, adding that it is being considered how it will be possible to support income from the trade sector. The government, he said, continues to assess the evolution of the impact of the crisis and to “tailor the responses”.
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