The FREE
Your expat
voice in Spain
Vol. 13 Issue 342 www.theolivepress.es April 29th - May 12th, 2020
This is not Armageddon!
IT was a taste of what’s to come for parents and children at the weekend. Mothers and sons, dads and daughters headed out to take the air, pick wild flowers and jump in puddles around Spain. On bikes, scooters, skateboards, roller skates or just shanks pony, they
Photos by Jon Clarke
Taste of freedom Mother of cancer victim Ashya King tells Olive Press why she has left the Jehovah’s Witnesses and wants to move back to Spain with her family
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met and chatted with friends on street corners and in parks, without fear of arrest or a heavy fine. Even better, from this weekend everyone will be allowed to exercise, as long as social distancing measures are kept. And, fingers crossed, the weather is meant to play ball!
c o n d i t i o n s .
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See a mother’s moving interview on pages 6-7
3 1 / 1 2 / 1 9 .
21/6/19 13:30
Photos by Mike Riley
E IV US CL IC EX P
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OLIVE PRESS Andalucía
Expat restaurateurs welcome four-step plan to recovery, but fear huge losses despite being able to open again in May EXPAT businesses across Andalucia have welcomed the news they could reopen in May following seven weeks of stasis. However, they remain extremely cautious about making plans until the international tourist market returns. It comes after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez revealed his four-step ‘de-escalation’ plan last night after a week of positive COVID-19 data. He insisted that life will return to a ‘new normal’ by June, with restau-
EXCLUSIVE By Laurence Dollimore and Jon Clarke
rants, hotels and businesses allowed to gradually open throughout May albeit at heavily reduced capacities. As long as the numbers of infections continue to drop, restaurant terraces will be allowed to open, as well as hotels and other tourist accommodation, on May 11. Some two weeks later, restaurant dining rooms can open for business, while cinemas, theatres and museums will follow suit. Cultural events such as weddings will be able to take place with a capacity of up to 400 people outdoors and 50 indoors. By early June, it is
envisaged that more restrictions will be lifted, although restaurants could still be limited to a capacity of just 50% with ‘strict separation’ between customers. “I’m cautiously optimistic,” British hotel and restaurant owner James Stuart, of the Califa group, in Vejer told the Olive Press.
Reputation
“Restaurants with a good reputation and clientele will do alright, particularly if they have decent sized outdoor terraces.” He added that bookings for his 10 businesses were ‘pretty strong’ for July and August - mostly from Spanish clients - but that June would ‘most likely be a washout’. “While I welcome the news and we will be opening a few restaurants and hotels as soon as we are allowed in May, we are worried about our larger ones. “It is vital that town halls allow restaurants to have much more space for tables and that we are able to operate with smaller numbers of staff. “In particular the government needs to let us know about the ERTE employment measures and give us more specifics about what are the barriers and spaces needed between tables,” he added. Another long term hotel owner in Ronda, Andy Chapell, of Continues on Page 4