The Panoramis cinemas of Alicante, in the mall of the same name, they are closed since the state of alarm was decreed, in March 2020. Its ten rooms are the ones that have been in the dark for the longest time in the province and the new concessionaire of the center, Digital Corner, has not yet spoken about its final closure. «We are considering various possibilities to see what we do with the space, which is very large, and it will be the last phase of the project, but we will surely make a decision next June about cinemas», Said yesterday one of the owners, Juan Carlos Ramírez.
Definitive or not, L’Altet de Cocentaina multiplexes have been closed since last April 1 And, although the web indicates “temporarily” no one answers the phone anymore.
On the other hand, Axion, with cinemas in the San Juan beach, Santa Pola, Alcoy and Orihuela opened their rooms progressively in mid-March but they closed them again after the Easter holidays. The company administration indicates that the prohibition of consuming drinks and popcorn inside is the finishing touch to the precarious situation in the sector “because people cannot conceive of going to the cinema and not being able to have popcorn, especially children. Our forecast is to reopen at the end of June, when the school year ends, but if the restriction continues, we may still be closed.
The manager of Kinépolis, Javier Caparrós points out that Alicante cinemas continue to add losses month after month, more than a year after the start of the pandemic and without support from the authorities. «Health continues to prohibit the consumption of food in an absurd measure, which was established when the incidence was 10 times higher than the current one and that It does not stand the comparison with the hospitality industry, where it can be consumed indoors», Says Caparrós, who in addition to the loss of this income that is essential for its viability (whose sale represents in many cases 50% of its turnover), recalls that “We are at 30% influx in 2019, largely because the cinema experience is not the same.”
“We have lost the family audience – for a child to spend two hours without drinking water or having a snack is unfeasible – and the youth, who associates visiting the cinema with the consumption of popcorn and soft drinks,” says Caparrós, who indicates that the Alicante City Council responds to their requests to reduce taxes (IAE or IBI), «inherent to economic activity and business profit when this is and will be negative in the 20s and 21s. Not even from the Department of Culture, has it been possible get answer ».
The president of the film entrepreneurs of the Valencian Community (Avecine), Antonio Such, said yesterday that “although we can already make three screenings, we do not rule out going back to court to ask for the end of the prohibition of consumption. It is a measure that we do not understand, with the figures we have and with the restaurants that can serve meals inside, “he said.
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