Mykonos: Reactions concerning indoor dining – What shopkeepers say

The Association of Entrepreneurs and Professionals of Mykonos Town (SEEHOM) agrees with the government’s decisions to open indoor restaurants and entertainment venues, but believes that delaying the opening could lead to another missed tourist season. This is pointed out in a statement of the Association, according to which, the decision of the government to give options to professionals for the way they will receive their customers is moving in the right direction and within the framework of the responsible proposals made by SEEHOM.

“However, the decision to start the selections after 17 days, at a time when the tourist season is in high demand, obviously raises serious issues for professionals as it limits the season to just 45 days. Professionals are enduring stoically, losing revenue and bleeding throughout this time,” the statement said.

The Association argues that the government should reward and boost professionals who decide to open their businesses to those vaccinated and those who were infected and cured by giving the green light, if the conditions are met, to open earlier. “We have been waiting for months for our businesses to start operating. We have invested and we have hired staff, taking daily losses. Without referring to the previous year. The State must immediately give us the application for the strict control at the entrances of our companies and those who are preparing to open the restaurants and entertainment shops with the conditions posed by legislators have the right “unmixed spaces “, Mykonos businessmen point out.

They demand the definitive return to pre- ovid-19operating hours. As they characteristically state, “it is unthinkable to open our stores, to respect the sanitary restrictions and the distancing and to close shortly after midnight. It is obvious that when we say entertainment opens, it opens and works as in the seasons of normalcy with the only difference being the distances or the masks for those who choose the second model (mixed spaces). Finally, the music license schedule should be in line with the restaurant and entertainment business license hours. Otherwise, we will become a threshold for illegal parties in villas. “Everyone will leave legitimate restaurants and will ‘hide’ in the villas without rules, protection measures and with abundant tax evasion”.

The union concludes that “once and for all, the State must legislate and impose exterminating fines on those who continue to parasite on the effort of the island’s legitimate professionals. Repeatedly, we have referred to the model of Ibiza, where  illegal entertainment through parties in villas were expunged with fines of 500,000 euros. Not a single day of the season should be missed! Every hour the stores are open is a profit for everyone.”