A curious way of dealing with the crisis of shortage of personnel is spreading in Spain. The trend “Sit as much as you consume” was launched by bars in Bilbao, picked up in Barcelona – and there is a risk that tourists will soon be eating on a timer in many spa regions of Spain. Tourists are, to put it mildly, perplexed by the new event.
Even during the pandemic, many hotels and bars in Spain imposed various time limits for tourists during which they could rest at tables and consume food. Now they are trying to deal with the personnel problem in the same way.
The point is that in the bars of Bilbao, for example, a tourist is allotted 15 minutes for a coffee, 25 minutes for a beer, and 40 minutes for a place to eat a sandwich. Next, tourists have to make room for the following. This was explained by a lack of space and staff. The method introduced during covid appeared to be profitable.
Such a tourist mecca as Barcelona has already partially picked up on it – in some bars, tourists are given only half an hour for coffee or beer, and those who want to have lunch are allowed to sit for an hour. As the bar owners assure in the local media, most of the tourists are understanding. Some will laugh at the new measures. And some are simply shocked.