Wedding and communion cancellation worries for hospitality sector on Spain’s Costa Almeria

ALMERIA’S hotel and catering businesses are worried about how the next few months are shaping up in the face of the mass cancelations of wedding banquets, communions and family parties.
Commenting on the fact that these kinds of events are on “standby” until the coronavirus health crisis is over, ASHAL Provincial Hospitality Company Association president Diego Garcia told Spanish press today Tuesday, “we know that the banquets are going to be with less people and with another kind of regulation, but we want to negotiate a change of date on the communions.”
He said the sector is waiting to talk to the Diocese of Almeria as “we have nothing certain” at this time, but based on the experiences of other provinces the celebrations may well be put back to the autumn.
According to Garcia the diocese wants to wait until after Easter to see how the religious instruction courses to prepare for confirmations go as in some local parishes the courses are continuing online and the preparations for celebrations via Whatsapp groups.
The association president has called on administrations and banks to collaborate to ensure no businesses “get left behind” and jobs are not lost in a sector which he described as “bruised and on its knees.”
Diego said he expected “a complete change in consumption habits”, and asked institutions to extend opening hours and the availability of square metres of terraces to allow for a “staggered” return to business activities while some social distancing measures remain in place.