Business owners in Segrià voice anger against ‘illegal’ restrictions

Hoteliers and restaurateurs in the confined Lleida county of Segrià consider that the restrictive measures imposed by the government on July 15 are “illegal.” 

People are not able to enter or leave the area encompassing Lleida and six municipalities of the Baix Segre for 15 days, and bars and restaurants have been forced to shut their doors for this time period too.

From the New Citizen Unity platform (NUC,) they encourage those affected to claim damages from the government of Catalonia. They say there have been substantial losses for bars, restaurants, and shops, and will send the bills to the government. 

Nearly 200 people have gathered this Monday in Plaça Sant Joan in Lleida to demand the reopening of the establishments. "We will open this Thursday, without question," said Dani Consuegra, spokesman for the New Citizen Unity (NUC) platform.

After the rally, participants headed back to the Plaza de la Paeria, as they did last Thursday, and broke plates. “Let the administration pay for the broken dishes,” Consuegra said. The platform spokesman has called for "immediate" solutions. "We want them now," he said, and called for a "united struggle" of all Lleidan society because the city, he says, "is being hijacked."

Rosa Rivas, owner of a restaurant in Lleida, says she should be able to reopen because, she complains, "we are the only territory in Catalonia that is closed." 

“Many families depend on us and if we continue like this we will have to close [permanently],” she warns.

Divina Pena, another trader who attended the rally, said that the situation caused by the enforced closure "cannot last much longer." 

“We want to go back to work,” She says.