Algarve Situation Report Wednesday 28th October 2020

Covid-19: More than 70% of Algarve hotels are expected to close during the winter – AHETA

More than 70% of hotels and tourist developments in the Algarve are likely to suspend activity during the low season due to the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the president of the sector’s main regional association said today.

The president of the Association of Hotels and Tourist Enterprises of the Algarve (AHETA) noted to the Lusa agency that, “during the winter, before the pandemic, about 50% of the hotels and developments were already closed”, warning that this number may rise and leave only less than 30% of hotels and developments in activity during the coming winter.

“This year our expectations are around 70%, and this number may be even higher”, said Elidérico Viegas about the prospects of AHETA for the low season of 2020/2021, stressing that “at the end of September many units closed the activity and closed”.

The president of AHETA warned, however, that these figures are only based on expectations, because “hotels and tourism enterprises are not obliged to inform about the closure” and this is only part of the “decision of the businessman and management” each unit.

Workers from school cafeterias and cafeterias protested on “national struggle” day in the Algarve

The Union of Workers in the Hotel, Tourism, Restaurants and Similar Industry of the Algarve, said in a statement sent today, that workers from the canteens and cafeterias of schools in the municipality of Lagos protested yesterday, in front of the City Council.

The protest was part of a national strike called by the Federation of Agriculture, Food, Beverages, Tobacco, Hospitality and Tourism Unions of Portugal, a structure that affects CGTP-IN, which decided to move forward to this day of national struggle due to the worsening of the situation that has been taking place in this sector “, resulting in the stopping of all cafeterias in the municipality of Lagos and other municipalities, namely, at the Escola Secundária de Albufeira.

Covid-19: DGS refuses “catastrophe” at the Algarve GP, but appeals to civility

The Directorate-General for Health (DGS) refused to agree yesterday that the organization of the Portuguese Grand Prix (GP) of Formula 1, which took place in the Algarve, was “catastrophic”, but appealed to the responsibility of citizens to respect the health recommendations.

“There were things that went well and others less well. And both were visible,” began the General Director of Health, Graça Freitas, when asked about the possible non-compliance with the distance rules in the stands of the Algarve race track, that this end weekend received the Portuguese GP.

At the regular press conference to update the Covid-19 numbers in Portugal, Graça Freitas recalled that the DGS makes “recommendations” and then trusts “in the inspection and organization” of the events, and in the case of the Portuguese GP , there was “some discrepancy between the recommendations and the ability for the organizers to arrange all the benches and inspect them”.

“I observed, from various angles and different ways, the distribution of the audience on the stands and, for the most part, the audience was with the necessary distance and wore a mask. However, these are lessons learned for the future. Perhaps, in the near future, to control the imponderables, we will have to have fewer people in the events”, she affirmed.

Moreover, she considered that there is a “co-responsibility” of several parties for the smooth running of the events, starting with the citizens themselves.

“We have to be careful to keep our distance. If a seat has a sticker there saying ‘don’t sit here’, it would be good if they didn’t sit there. There is a co-responsibility here of the organization [of the event] and also of the DGS. In any case, I do not think that the situation was catastrophic. I do not think that any very dramatic event will emerge from there “, she said.