destacados

The industry demands support to be able to assume the enormous sacrifice that is demanded of it

The president of the Galician Tourism Cluster, Cesáreo Pardal, today conveyed to the vice president of the Xunta de Galicia, Alfonso Rueda, and the councilor for Health, Julio García Comesaña, the commitment of the Galician tourism industry with the measures aimed at avoiding a collapse in hospitals and reduce the rate of infection “to accelerate the return to a situation as close to normal as possible.” Cesáreo Pardal warned, however, that a serious, sacrificial and committed response is also necessary on the part of public administrations to prevent the disappearance of thousands of companies.

The heads of the Cluster of all Galicia and the different subsectors of Tourism held a meeting this morning in which, in addition to the vice president and the councilor, were the director of Tourism of Galicia, Nava Castro, and the general director of Labor Relations, Elena Mancha.

The tourism industry has recalled the need for administrations to be sensitive to the sector because they suffer immediately and forcefully the consequences of the implementation of new measures. In this sense, the Cluster reaffirmed itself as an interlocutor to transmit the information to the companies sufficiently in advance and in real time, to avoid situations such as the one that took place last weekend. Then, the companies found out about the measures just three hours before they came into force, when they had already made their forecasts and purchases for the weekend.

After the meeting, Cesáreo Pardal said that tourism companies are aware that they are part of the solution, “but in no case are they the problem, as sometimes had been shown.” That is why “there must be direct help lines to the sector”, as well as other aids from all Administrations, such as VAT reductions or suppression of terrace taxes.

During the meeting, the head of Labor Relations informed the industry that the temporary workforce restructuring (ERTE) prior to October 19 remain in force, and that new ones are being processed “due to impediment” to the conditions of the activity, which can even be granted to establishments that remain open to serve people who live together; and the so-called “limitation ERTE” when companies are forced to stop part of their activity. In this case, workers who were already in ERTE can continue and new ones can join, even with retroactive effects.

The vice president and councilor for Tourism, Alfonso Rueda, thanked the sector for having followed all health protocols, which has helped to control situations such as Ourense. In this sense, he announced that the aid lines with the tourism sector will have a special treatment.

During the meeting, the representatives of the different subsectors were able to convey to the public representatives the specific situations they face. This is the case, for example, of congress palaces, whose capacity is limited to 100 people, when there is no similar limitation in shopping centers.

The representatives of the hospitality industry demanded that the closing hours be extended until 12 at night and that the perimeter closures and the meeting limitations for cohabitants be reviewed.

Another of the recurring complaints of the industry refers to the speeding up of free tests at exhibitions, congresses or even in hotels, to facilitate mobility.

The Cluster reiterated its intention to continue and reinforce its function of serving as a bridge with the Administration to achieve the maximum possible consensus in the measures that are put in place.