Tables set and lights on after 6pm: bars and clubs on their knees challenge the rules

TRIESTE It’s called #Ioapro and it’s the challenge that hundreds of managers and owners of public places will launch throughout Italy on Friday. Entrepreneurs willing to provocatively violate the rules that require closure at 18, thus risking also heavy penalties, in order to make the voice of a category now exhausted by prohibitions and limitations heard.

A cry of alarm like the one that the owner of Celestino Pizza Gourmet in via Diaz is preparing to launch in Trieste. «It is necessary to rekindle the spotlight on the difficulties that the sector is going through – explains Edi Bazec -. You cannot stand still in front of everything that is happening. Ours will be a positive protest, which will have no results for the takings, but we will set the tables as if we were open, then we will see what happens. And if we get fined we will appeal, because working is a right. Others – continues the restaurateur – have done it successfully. We already have four reservations, although I don’t know if people will really come. Maybe eventually people will be afraid. But let’s at least begin to give a signal ».

On the same line another insider, the owner of the bar “This Bey” in via Galatti. “With the current constraints we do not work and we do not survive – affirms Paolo Stricca -, customers will not be there, but we are still ready to remain open”.

However, there are few restaurants, at least on the eve, ready to expose themselves and declare their adhesion to the protest in advance. Both in Trieste and in Gorizia, prudence and skepticism prevail over the real usefulness of similar provocations among the historical names of restaurants. In Trieste, the first to stand out are the historic cafes, such as San Marco. «If I kept it open after 6 pm – says the owner Alexandros Delithanassis – I would face the risk of sanctions and meager income due to the few people around and the absence of tourists. What use would it be? ». Strongly opposed also Matteo Pizzolini, of the Antico Caffè Torinese. “An event that goes against civic sense and common sense – underlines -. Surely if you want to manifest you have to do it by following the rules and not breaking them. We are one of the most targeted categories, by doing so we do not become heroes but martyrs, because perhaps people do not know it, but in addition to the restaurateur who will be fined with a lot of possible closure, those fined will also be the customers. So I would launch a new #iononapro hastag ». Not even Manuel Bossi, del Rex and the two coffee taverns will be involved. “If the idea is to open without rules, with possible gatherings, throwing away all the sacrifices made so far in health terms, then I say no”.

Some managers of Via Torino, such as Massimo Di Martino, of Puro, are also on the same line. “We have a local police patrol on the road every day, when we close at 6 pm – he says -. So when the protest starts, if I join I will be the first to get the fine. We also discussed with a lawyer, who advised us not to participate, I don’t know what it’s worth and I think it’s something risky ».

Even in Gorizia, many will close at 6 pm, without any extension of the hours, even if they do not exclude different kinds of agitation. «We do not agree with #ioapro and like many places in the city I will not join – says Michela Fabbro, of the Rosenbar restaurant and president of“ Gorizia a tavola ”-: this would create problems for our staff and customers. It’s okay to mobilize, but we need to act in compliance with the rules ». The owners of some premises in Monfalcone agree. “Business has already been reduced – they commented at the Dalis bar -, if we also put the risk of fines on it, it’s not worth it”. «We will close at 6 pm – also confirms the Cupido bar -. The game is not worth the candle”.

For its part, the Fipe, in distancing itself from the protest, once again highlights the difficulties of the sector. «More than ten months have passed since our activities were disrupted – specifies a note from Fipe Fvg -. We are disoriented and in fear: fear of no longer being able to reopen in a few months, fear of debts and social security ». –

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