VALENCIA. The Hospitality Coordinator of the Barrios de València He has lamented this Wednesday the “ineffectiveness” and the “bureaucratic stagnation” of the local administration that the hoteliers are encountering in order to avail themselves of the plan to expand the terraces, which was given the green light by the Department of Public Space last May 22.
This bureaucratic machinery, they warn, is hindering the resumption and recovery of economic activity in bars and restaurants that have reopened their doors with a capacity limit of 50% on terraces in Phase 1 and 40% inland in Phase 2 from Last Monday, the organization warns in a statement. And it is that according to data collected by the Coordinator, 75.8% of bars, restaurants and entertainment venuesApproximately 1,300 throughout the city have requested the expansion of terraces and only 5% have received authorization. All this, in the absence of official data from the City Council, which hopes to give them in the coming days.
The District Boards They were in charge of processing these permits, although as indicated by the Department of Public Space that their staff is also helping to unclog the procedures. The hoteliers consulted in different neighborhoods assure that they have not received any response, 13 days after the deadline has been activated, or that they have been summoned to present complementary documentation that is not specified in the forms enabled to manage the procedures.
In addition, “it is surprising that the notifications for the marking of the terraces corresponding to the special plan that led to the cutting of the terraces in 2018 in Russafa are being received now,” points out the Coordinator.
For the group, “there is a will on the part of the Department of Public Space competent in the matter but unfortunately the administrative system torpedoes the actions put in place, delaying the granting of the expansion of the terraces or applying the 2018 cuts at a time which requires maximum agility and support for the economic sectors. “
“Incomprehensible”
In his opinion, it is “incomprehensible” that the digital portal of the City Council took five days to be operational since the Local Government Board approved that bars and restaurants could temporarily expand their terraces and the conditions and procedures to carry it finished.
He also considers it “striking that among some responses on the attached documentation, it is argued that it is not valid because the space requested is not well appreciated on the map as it cannot be printed in color.”
Billing falls 70%
Administrative collapse, lack of resources or ‘teleworking’ “cannot now be the problem faced by the hoteliers who have lifted the blinds, most of them half gas because of capacity limitations and in many cases due to lack of public as a consequence of the greatest sanitary crisis that all of society is facing “, warns the Coordinator.
On the contrary, “all possible resources and facilities must be put in place – the Coordinadora insists – to mitigate the economic losses of a key sector for the city’s GDP, and which is seeing how its income is minimal and hardly covers expenses “
Its average billing, according to data provided by the hoteliers themselves, is 70% lower than that recorded during the months prior to Covid-19, even in some areas more punished by lack of tourist or resident public, it exceeds 80%, such as case of the Carmen neighborhood.
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