The hoteliers ask for more booths at the Cáceres Fair after two years without activity

With pre-pandemic normality practically installed, without capacity limits or restrictions, the massive events suspended for the last two years are resumed. This is the case of the San Fernando Fair – held exceptionally last September only with pots and pans and food stalls – which returns to the fairgrounds with the dance booths included.

The businessmen who were awarded the eight of the 24 spaces that the City Council put out to tender in 2020 have recently maintained a first contact with the local government to address the issues that concern them. Among them, more promotion to attract more cassette players and that it be prohibited to take the bars to the street in the center.

Further promoting the day fair at the fairgrounds has always been the struggle between the hoteliers who operate the booths and the City Council. The businessmen consulted by this newspaper demand that the law that prohibits drinking in the street be applied so that exceptions are not allowed on those days in the center, such as blocking streets that are not pedestrianized, as happened a few years ago in ‘the bishops’ before its reform.

«We have asked them to turn to the day fair on the premises and lend us a hand. What we do not want is for a big bottle to form in the city,” says Alberto Gascón, head of the María Bonita booth and one of the attendees at the meeting, in which the Councilors for Celebrations, Economy and Security, Fernanda Valdés, participated. , Ángeles Costa and María José Pulido, respectively.

“We want them to promote the tapas fair and not cut off streets that invite people to stay in Cáceres and not move to the fair,” emphasizes another businessman present at the meeting.

What they have pulled out of the Consistory for now is the commitment to authorize the preference with the opening of the booths on Thursday, May 19, as long as they offer some kind of show or claim activity. The lighting would be activated on the night of Tuesday the 24th and the closing would be on Sunday the 29th. A few days ago the concert that the Izal group will offer at the Hípico on the 28th was confirmed.

Regarding the number of booths, it should be remembered that in February 2020 the City Council changed the traditional award system, in which seniority had been prioritizing to occupy the modules on the main street. Then a contest was called so that those interested in managing a stand could attend on equal terms. Of the 24 that were offered (the municipal and the largest had closed a contract for two years), only 8 were awarded. The concession was made for two years plus one extendable.

As these winners have explained, this year they will not have to bid again as they have not exploited the business in the last two. Nor do they believe that the City Council will process a new contest to occupy the spaces that were left empty. “They will take them out at the minimum established price, because I don’t think anyone has the courage to bid,” Gascón predicts. “Other years they have even given away the land, which is not bad for us because what we want is for it to be filled,” she adds.

Fewer booths

At the 2019 fair, 15 booths worked, 13 of them private plus the municipal one and the one for the elderly, which are managed jointly. In the central street of the venue, the most sought-after, there are usually, in addition to María Bonita, Capote, Velvet or El Quinto Pino.

In recent celebrations, the number of booths has decreased significantly, going from 34 in 2009, to 17 in 2018 and 15 in the last edition of May 2019.

In what the hoteliers affect is to have greater municipal support in diffusion and publicity to fill the premises from noon. They reiterate that the placement of bars and decorations at the doors of businesses be disallowed to prevent people from staying in the city. Its purpose is that the Cáceres fair recovers the spirit of past times, with public at the fair all day. In 2019, the dance booths themselves offered menus for traditional business and friends meals.

The hoteliers will meet again with the City Council in mid-April with the hope of specifying formulas that will revitalize San Fernando.