Spanish restaurants to close early under Socialist reform

SPAIN’S Left-wing government has told restaurants to close earlier as it tries to enforce a 35-hour working week.

“It’s madness to carry on extending opening times; that a restaurant is open at 1am is not reasonable,” Yolanda Díaz, the labour minister, said.

The administration of Pedro Sánchez, the prime minister, wants to limit working times, similar to France, in a country celebrated for its vibrant nightlife. But tourism and hospitality leaders are furious at the suggestion late opening hours mean workers are exploited.

Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the president of the Madrid region and a fierce critic of Mr Sánchez’s administration, said: “Spain has the world’s best nightlife with streets full of life and freedom.”

“They want us to be puritans, materialists, socialists, without soul, without light and without restaurants just because they feel like it. Bored and at home,” she said on social media.

“Long opening hours generate more employment and more staff,” José Luis Yzuel, the resident of the industry group Spanish Hospitality, told the newspaper El Mundo.

He branded Ms Díaz’s comments as “nonsense”, insisting that workers closely observed rules on hours and the biggest problem was a lack of labour.

Some 188,000 inspections were carried out in 2022 to ensure labour laws and health and safety rules were being observed in Spain’s 270,000 establishments, he said.

Latest government figures showed the hospitality sector had created 29,000 jobs in February alone.

It contributed more than any other sector to the 104,000 new jobs created in Spain in what has been the best February for employment since 2007.

Spain’s tourism sector is also booming. In January, a record of 4.8 million international visitors entered the country.

They spent a total of €6.55billion (£5.6 billion), a quarter more than in the same month last year.

‘They want us to be puritans, materialists, socialists, without soul ... and without restaurants’