The employers' association Hostelería de España has sent the main political parties a document with 30 proposals for the upcoming general elections, placing the fight against unfair competition at the center of its demands.
The employers' association calls for urgently equalizing the rules of the game between traditional bars and restaurants and new commercial models —in clear reference to the rise of ready-made meals in supermarket chains— so that they operate under the same fiscal, sanitary, labor, and licensing obligations when offering an analogous service.
The sector organization argues that any establishment that prepares or dispenses gastronomic offerings to consumers must assume the same burdens and requirements as catering establishments. Therefore, they urge the regulation of these conditions to avoid market gaps that harm traditional businesses compared to large retailers or mixed formats.
Along with this demand for competitive equity, the package sent to political formations proposes urgent fiscal and labor protection. The employers' association calls for the definitive maintenance of the reduced VAT rate of 10%, the elimination of additional social security contribution costs that burden extra workers, and the increase of the tax-exempt value for meal vouchers to 14 euros.
Likewise, the organization demands a state plan for administrative simplification that reduces bureaucratic burdens on SMEs and self-employed individuals. In the labor sphere, they request to contain the increase in social security contributions and curb the impact of absenteeism by providing mutual insurance companies with greater care capacity to expedite diagnoses and rehabilitation.
In the institutional sphere, Hostelería de España proposes the creation of a General Directorate of Hospitality and Tourism Industries with its own budget, conceived to coordinate public policies affecting the activity and articulate a permanent framework for employment protection against climate emergencies.
Finally, the document calls for operational and financial support to face the ecological transition without compromising the profitability of businesses. This includes a flexible design of the future packaging deposit and return system (SDDR), as well as direct aid to support micro-enterprises and guarantee generational succession in traditional rural establishments.
The initiative arrives supported by the data from the latest Hospitality Confidence Indicator, which reflects that 52.3% of employers face the year with caution and 27.2% with direct concern. The employers' association thus seeks that the future legislative agenda protects a sector that represents 6.7% of the national GDP and employs two million workers.
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