Chiringuito chagrin in Torremolinos

BEACH bars in the Los Alamos district of Torremolinos are up in arms, after the council decided that they must follow the same licensing rules as restaurants, meaning doors must be closed at 3am rather than 4am, as has been the norm for the last decade, during which the businesses have been left in ‘bureaucratic limbo’ over their licensing.

The change in policy does not affect the playing of music, despite all the establishments being licensed as ‘musical restaurants,’ a category that in reality does not exist under Andalucian law, meaning that the bars will continue to bang out the tunes and “hope there are no complaints about it.”

Furious bar owners have taken to the internet to express their odium, starting a petition entitled ‘Save Los Alamos’ on the Change.org website, asserting that the move will threaten 500 employees directly and up to 3,000, such as taxi drivers and hotel staff, indirectly.

The petition attracted more than 1,500 signatures in a little over two hours on Monday, June 20, before 200 hopping-mad employees descended on Torremolinos Town Hall in the afternoon, only to be given the cold shoulder by council members, not one of which bothered to show face.

One apoplectic bar owner claimed that the seven establishments affected are “drivers of tourism,” expressing concerns that “our businesses will go to hell under this schedule.”