Bilbao will place in August a third of the extra terraces it had due to the covid
The City Council gives the green light to a hundred temporary installations. Nine out of ten will be assembled in Abando and Ibaiondo
Bilbao will enjoy 106 ‘extra’ terraces in August, a third of those that were enabled during the pandemic, when these structures were a complete oxygen balloon for a hotel industry suffocated by the covid until they disappeared from the map of the town on the 1st of Mayonnaise. It was the last large Biscayan municipality to eliminate them, but also the first Basque capital.
In total, there were 333 located in locations such as pedestrian areas, sidewalks and parking lots. The decision to withdraw them, agreed with all the political groups with municipal representation, was made according to “epidemiological criteria” after the suspension of the health restrictions decreed by the Basque Government.
The Bizkaia Hospitality Association, meanwhile, called for a mid-term debate on the permanent installation of additional terraces in the city. Shortly after, the mayor, Juan Mari Aburto, announced that the extraordinary authorizations granted during the nine days of Aste Nagusia would be extended, so that hoteliers could take advantage of the terraces throughout the month of August. The City Council opened the period to request them between June 14 and July 8. In the end, it has authorized 106 installations in parking lots and pedestrian areas, while another 41 were denied. During 2019, when the last edition of the Big Week was used, 118 were mounted.
The manager of the Bilbao Hospitality Association, Héctor Sánchez, explained that the requests have been less than those for the covid terraces, because they could affect all the hoteliers in the city, but during a good part of the month of August the The majority of Bilbao residents are on vacation and the clientele is concentrated in the most touristic areas of the capital.
For this reason, many hoteliers and other professionals, such as taxi drivers, take advantage of the first fortnight of August, until the holidays, to take their annual break. Also during Aste Nagusia, the bars in the neighborhoods do not have the same flow as those in the center. “These are the Bilbao festivals, but there is not the same festive atmosphere in Deusto as in Abando”, he exemplified.
external public address
Hence, it is explained that nine out of ten terraces with special authorization are going to be placed in the neighborhoods of Ibaiondo and Abando, the places with the most movement at this time. The rates for occupancy that hoteliers will have to face are up to 43.35 euros per day if they put it only during the nine festive days and up to 782 for the whole month in a street of first fiscal category.
In addition to this rate, the City Council charged another for each permit in which it has introduced exemptions and modifications. The ‘extra’ terraces will be able to start their assembly at eight in the morning on the 1st, but at dawn on the first day of September they will have to disappear. The Consistory has also authorized a score of outdoor public address elements, although these can only be placed from August 20 to 28.