The premises on the Naples seafront are opening: SOS for May Day. “More checks and reopenings in the city to avoid gatherings”
All open this morning after two and a half months of takeaway only. For many – those outdoors are about 30% of the venues Naples and province – it is a sort of liberation and return to normality with a good portion of reservations already for today.
However, there is a concern ahead of the May Day weekend, when with indoor venues inaccessible, customers will flock to outdoor venues. And no one – this is the message from Naples – intends to pay the consequences with the risk of new closures.
"When I raised the shutter this morning," explains Stella, owner of the trattoria of the same name in via Partenope, "I felt like crying. We live for contact with our customers and for our work: all things that we have missed. However, the desire to start again is also accompanied by a bit of worry, especially after seeing yesterday's scenes."
The reference is to the crowd that stormed the waterfront on the last day of the orange zone. “Even though we were closed,” he explains, “we had pulled out the tables in preparation for today’s reopening. People started camping out everywhere, kids but also adults. Our thoughts go to next weekend, May 1st, when we expect a large influx of customers. And since I prefer to work just right but well, respecting the rules, the collaboration of the police will be essential. As they come to us to write the reports, I hope they can give us a hand by regulating access. We cannot afford new closures.”
“We are starting again safely,” one of the owners of Fresco emphasizes, recalling the distancing between tables. “Something is moving, the offices are coming back and we are seeing some tourists again. But everyone must be able to reopen, even colleagues who only have indoor spaces. In fact, I think we must get used to living with the virus while still guaranteeing activities while respecting the rules.”
Clear rules, abolition of the curfew and reopening for everyone are the requests of Antonino Della Notte, president of Aicast and owner of Antonio & Antonio: “We start again – he says – with the spirit of those who no longer want to close because we have suffered stops dictated only by the desire to prevent people's mobility and not on the basis of certain data. At this moment our thoughts go to colleagues who cannot reopen. We must reopen everything that we can – is the thesis – parks, beaches, in order to reduce the risk of crowding. We business owners cannot replace the police, it is not up to us to send away the customer who cannot find a seat and who perhaps waits for his turn. It is clear that those who cannot go to the indoor restaurant will choose the outdoor solution. This is why – concludes Della Notte – we trust in the controls so that everyone respects the rules”.
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