Today the Gremi de Restauració celebrated its traditional Saint Eulàlia festival in La Paloma, which brought together more than 600 people in the recovered dance hall in the Raval neighborhood. At the event, which was attended by numerous politicians, artists, people from the world of entertainment, prominent restaurateurs and journalists, tribute was paid to the veteran actress Lola Herrera, who at 88 years old is still active on theater stages.
The guest of honor recalled her connection to the theaters of Barcelona, many of which have already disappeared, in a nostalgic and especially affectionate tone towards a city that has always welcomed her very favorably during her long artistic career.
“It is very important that cities recover spaces like this (La Paloma), that they have a long-term view and are not destroyed,” said the actress from Valladolid, who in her speech has vindicated the rights of women and has made a call to close the path to the extreme right. "Let's not be distracted if we don't want some wolf dressed as Little Red Riding Hood to steal our rights," said Lola Herrera.
The guest of honor of the Barcelona Restoration Guild was presented by the television presenter Jorge Javier Vázquez, who winked at the former mayor Ada Colau, present at the event. With his usual irony, Vázquez addressed Colau. "How quiet I've been since you weren't mayor! When you were there, I saw the Madrid press and thought: if I go to Barcelona, I won't be able to leave the hotel without private security." The presenter then turned to Mayor Jaume Collboni: "I'm also very happy that the mayor, now that it wasn't you (Colau), it was Jaume Collboni".
The event, which concluded with a lunch, also featured the interventions of the president of the Barcelona Restoration Guild, Salva Vendrell; the Minister of Business and Work, Roger Torrent, and the mayor Collboni. This has celebrated that after the pandemic the restaurant sector lives a "sweet moment". Since January 2020, 550 new bars and restaurants have opened in the city, not including transfers.
