The Hotel and Extra-Hotel Association of Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro, Ashotel, has asked the central government this Wednesday to modify the rule on the mandatory use of masks on beaches and swimming pools and report "with transparency" where Covid-19 infections occur.
"Making the use of masks mandatory now in areas of confluence of the few tourists we have, such as the beaches of the Canary Islands, seems to us something untimely, which makes no sense, unless it is shown that it is in these places where the greatest infections occur," says in a note the president of Ashotel, Jorge Marichal, who adds that this measure "is discouraging for the coming months, in which the tourism sector has placed its hopes for recovery, once all of Europe is gradually vaccinated."
Therefore, "we demand that the Government really explain the reason for this measure and, if it is justified, we will abide by it, but if it is not, what we ask is for its withdrawal, because it is doing a lot of damage to the image of this country, to the economy and, therefore, to the tourism sector," explains Marichal.
In addition, he insists on the need to be effective in the application of measures in those areas where infections are mostly occurring and that, he believes, "according to the information we have, are not precisely the beaches or the mountains of the islands."
In addition, he states that accommodation establishments are not massive sources of contagion due to the health control measures that are implemented.
Ashotel also finds it "strange" that at this point in the pandemic - a year after the state of alarm was declared - measures such as this are taken. "We understand that the central Executive, through the data of the health authorities, must know perfectly where the sources of contagion are with verified data. It does not seem logical, therefore, that now they want to act in public spaces such as beaches or open to the public, such as accommodation establishments in their common areas, when it seems that the problems of greater accumulated incidence are not there," says Marichal.
In that line, he insists on asking for "rigor and coherence in the measures that are adopted, since they generate more uncertainty regarding the next date of reactivation of the sector, which is the summer."
Therefore, he demands that the announcement made by the Government of Spain itself about "qualifying" the bill of urgent measures for prevention, containment and coordination to face the health crisis during the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System that is held this Wednesday be made effective.
