Alex Trelinski
BARS and restaurants in Castellon Province plan to reopen on February 16 in protest at their enforced closure imposed by the Valencian Government.
The Castellon Hotel Association(Ashocas) is behind the move.
They say the hospitality trade is now ‘jaded’ by ‘nonsensical’ measures taken by the government to stop increasing COVID-19 cases.
Hospitality businesses have been closed for almost three weeks and Ashocas say that they’ve had enough.
They’ve also extended their reopening call to other hospitality groups in Castellon Province and right across the Valencian Community.
In a statement, Ashocas said: “We are going to open with all the health security measures that we have used before.”
“We can no longer take it. President Ximo Puig does not have a single argument to continue accusing us or to keep us even more day in this situation.”
The local Ashotur tourist association said it disagreed with the move
They said:” Hospitality has been unfairly targeted but we must follow the law as we are in the midst of a very serious pandemic.”
For their part, Ashocas said: “We have been suffering unprecedented punishment in the sector for 11 months. We are in a region that has applied the severest restrictions in Spain for the longest time, but they have been unable to contain the coronavirus.”
“There are other regions with fewer restrictions and open hospitality businesses that are coupled with lower infection rates.”
Ashocas confirmed that they were preparing a class action lawsuit against the Valencian Government and the Madrid administration over the way hospitality has been treated during the pandemic.
