Barmaid tells the drama of bar and restaurant workers in Madeira

Tobi Hughes·
Madeira News

Débora Santos is one of many who call for a curfew later in the Region, fearing for the total bankruptcy of the sector. This is one of the highlights of the edition of MAIS DIÁRIO on Monday, April 5th.

Débora Santos is one of the many bar and restaurant workers who call for the curfew in Madeira to be done later. The barmaid in Zona Velha has already seen colleagues dismissed and fears for the sector’s total bankruptcy. But this issue is far from being a consensus.

An online survey of the Diário Notícias with more than 300 responses reveals an enormous divergence of opinions among the population in this very sensitive matter, since it involves health and the economy in times of pandemic.

From Diário Notícias

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Tobi Hughes

12 Responses

  2. …..but the President said the economy is not effected nor any phycological effect can be seen by the pandemic. Everything must be pretty normal then or?

    1. He should try telling my mate Ricardo who is struggling to keep his business going!

  3. The government there does not care about the service people on the island. To say that there is no economic effect with the curfew is being blind to hardship these workers are enduring. They have no support from the government, unlike the US which provided relief to bars and restaurants, and these businesses are the reason that many people come back to Madeira. I know the island needs to control the pandemic but to cut the hands off to save the body is not the way to do it. Very sad situation for those wonderful people in the service industry there.

    1. The government did not say the business was not affected by the curfew. He said the consequences of a curfew are lighter than a full lockdown. This is factually correct.

      After over a year of pandemic, I still find it hard to believe that some people still think there are two options: open the economy without the restrictions or a serious sanitary issue. People do not understand that if they kept open it would last for 2 or 3 weeks and then a full lockdown would come after that that could last 3 or 4 months. Do they prefer to serve dinners for 2 weeks and then fully close for 3 or 4 months like is happening elsewhere in Europe? Do they want to get to May only to find that Madeira is “red listed” everywhere and tourist cannot come to the island?

        1. Exactly. The inability for people to think about the long-term consequences of short-lived freedoms is exactly the problem.

  4. This was a sector already in trouble before the pandemic, staff not being paid, IVA not being handed over, landlords not being paid. Etc etc. As with all cash businesses, no profits shown, nothing put aside, nothing for lenders to base risk on!!!! Àll aligned to tourist visitors, if you take a walk through old town now, the places open are ones catering for locals and charging accordingly.
    Non of this is the fault of the poor souls who just work in them, its the owner/operator who must shoulder the blame, how can you get support for a business that was claiming running below a point of bankruptcy for years!!! No banking, no declaration of takings, back pocketing the IVA they were taking off customers ( thats 21% of the bill you were charged) and now leave their poor staff in line for food handouts.
    Be careful where your sympathy lies. Most of these operators have cut and run, is my guess.

  5. PS
    You need tourists or locals and there are no tourists, locals wont pay tourist rates and if all bars and restaurants aligned to locals, that would give them 6 customers each a WEEK!!!!
    Its the law of diminishing returns (customers in this case)

  6. We are booked to return in September. Attempt number 3. However if everything is in curfew, what’s the point. Beautiful island that after 25 years we know nearly every inch. Coming out for 4 weeks and cooking in our apartment or takeaways every night. No thanks. My liver couldn’t take it. It’s terrible for all.

  7. “Damned if you do, Damned if you don’t”, I have worked in Hospitality for over 30 years and my business closed March 17th 2020 (Thanks St Patrick) the UK and Portuguese governments are under a lot of pressure to re-open their respective countries to Hospitality and Tourism, whether it be BA, EasyJet, TAP, Tui, the Large Breweries, Pub Companies etc but as Antonio said, what would be the point if within a few weeks the virus surged and everything has to close down again, I have just left your beautiful Island, after being forced to extend my stay from 5 weeks to 17 weeks, (lots of flights cancelled) flying back to London last Sat via Zurich, my eating and drinking habits changed due to the curfew, i ate and drank out during the day, if Bars and Restaurants are allowed to open later then people will change their eating and drinking times to suit BUT still only spending the same amount of money, this doesn’t make much sense as the proprietor will have more wages and utilities being used but with the same income, I can understand if the venue is only used by locals but the changing of curfew times will be across the board.
    I have said it a couple of times on other blogs, the Madeira Government needs to unilaterally source the vaccination as other EU countries have done.
    If Madeira is put on the so called “Green List” will people still want to visit if there is a strict curfew in place, as I said earlier, “Damned if you do Damned if you don’t”

  8. Touchè John. Good to hear it from someone balanced at blunt end of it, well thought out responses, and there it lies, not emotive, lot of common sence. I would not like to be the decision makers in this mess, but if I was, unpalatable or not, the decisions have to be made, and you can’t satisfy all of the people all of the time!!!! As one great statesman once stated.

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