Laurence Crumbie
SPAIN is famed for its late-night culture, where you can waltz into a restaurant long after dark and still bag yourself some warm food.
But with a new curfew in place, forcing restaurants in some regions to close as early as 10pm, midnight meals are currently off the cards.
And so eateries across the country have decided to take action.
Under the slogan ‘Eat out European-style’, Hosteleria de Espana (Spain Hotel and Catering) has launched a nationwide campaign asking Spaniards and seasoned expats to ‘dine like they do in Europe.’
Their logo – a time-stamped plate cover – hints that other Europeans dine at the early hour of 8pm.
Some 270,000 restaurants have joined the ‘Go European’ initiative, adopting the mottos #SalvemosLaHosteleria (‘Save the Service Industry’) and #AdelantaTuCena (‘Bring Your Dinner Forward’).
Although almost all restaurants have taken heavy losses this year, the most vulnerable right now are those in regions such as Catalunya and Castile and Leon, where the curfew ends at 10pm and there are fewer international clients.
Hosteleria de Espana also emphasises on its website that restaurants are only responsible for 3,5% of the country’s COVID-19 cases, reassuring prospective diners that their meal is unlikely to have a bitter aftertaste.
