Horeca open in many places today in protest against measures

Yesterday the cabinet introduced a series of relaxations: all shops can open again until 17:00 and gyms can also get back to work. There was no relief from the measures for the catering industry.

Today is not the first time that catering establishments have opened in protest. Yesterday that was the case in Alblasserdam and Valkenburg. In the Limburg city, people enjoyed a cup of coffee on the terrace:

Now many more businesses want to do that. Many municipalities have already announced that they will tolerate the actions. Mayors in Flevoland have said to ‘deal appropriately’ with catering businesses that open their doors.

In Noord-Holland Noord, a number of municipalities, including Hoorn, allow the opening of the catering industry until 8 p.m. The Hoorn mayor Jan Nieuwenburg says that it should remain with a statement from the entrepreneurs. If they open the case at other times, a fine will follow.

The four major cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and The Hague have indicated that they do not intend to allow the opening of catering businesses.

The Amsterdam D66 party leader, and himself a catering entrepreneur, Reinier van Dantzig calls on his colleagues to stay closed.

In Breda, the local branch of Royal Catering Netherlands has called on cafes and restaurants not to open. According to the department, the catering industry should not allow itself to be lent itself for a day to a protest action.

Rutte: Be sensible

Prime Minister Rutte said yesterday that he is counting on mayors to handle the rules ‘sensibly’. According to him, municipalities can offer space for ‘disobedience actions’, but opening cafes and restaurants is not possible, according to the prime minister.

According to Rutte, ‘tight agreements’ were made about enforcement during the security meeting with the chairmen of the security regions.