Next Saturday the weather forecast for Valencia already shows some clearings after so many expected rainy days, there is a peak of celebrations in restaurants and bars in the city for the Christmas holidays and, in addition, the Valencia Taxi Association and the Trade Union Federation of the Taxi of Valencia hold a protest stoppage. The day is looming complicated and a lot of work for alternative public transport.
We spoke with Fernando del Molino, president of the Valencia Taxi Federation, who estimates that the monitoring of the sector this Saturday could be "around 90% or 100%". If they do not negotiate with the Ministry of Mobility before Wednesday, they will prepare the strike, which will be repeated again on Saturdays, December 24, Christmas Eve, and 31, New Year's Eve.
At stake is, mainly, the pricing of 2023, as Del Molino explains, "it cannot be that we are at December 12 and we still do not have the rates, with the rise in fuels and the current situation."
One of the sectors affected in this Christmas "super Saturday" is the hotel industry, which a few weeks ago launched a message of support for the taxi sector, but which is confident that "the Christmas campaign will adjust supply and demand to give a adequate service to the high demand that occurs during these festivities".
And it is that the hotel industry explains that the Christmas campaign has started "very well", with a very high level of reservations and that even some companies have already advanced their meetings and gatherings during the month of November.
The expectation was high because last year at this time there was a lot of desire to party, but the Covid passport was in force, which for some was a handicap, the mask was mandatory and on December 14 the first case of the Omnicron variant in Elx and reserves began to drop. "In the end it was a disaster," they acknowledge from the sector.
Therefore, this campaign is seen from another perspective. The president of the Hospitality of Valencia, Manuel Espinar, affirms that these days "efforts are being made so that people can enjoy themselves and that prices are not a restriction to carry out the celebration."
They add that prices have had to be adjusted "in order for the activity to be viable", but they acknowledge that even so right now "reaching the break-even point is very complicated".
It is not surprising, therefore, that, knowing inflation, the most demanded gastronomic demand is being that of closed menus (they ask for it in 85.35% of the cases), as pointed out by the Hospitality Coordinator of the Neighborhoods of Valencia, who has made an estimate based on a survey in bars and restaurants in the city and estimates the impact of these traditional celebrations in the city at 8 million.
This platform also points out that the groups of diners are mostly made up of an average of 12.6 people, the average cost per customer is 27.5 euros and after the set menu, they order a la carte from the bar or restaurant at 11.76 % of cases, and in 5.88% of cases, personalized menu according to the client's budget.
From the Valencian Association of Consumers and Users (AVACU), its president Fernando Móner says that "we are all in the ON Christmas mode, but both the taxi stops scheduled for Christmas and the rise in prices are detrimental to consumers" .
In this context, he envisions a cost beyond January, because now "we want to go out, we want to forget about the pandemic and the problem will be when we return from Christmas and we see that prices are still high and then we will have spent more than we we had", argues Móner.
And it is true that this will be the first Christmas with almost complete normality after two years due to the health pandemic and it seems that there is interest in extending the party beyond the table and tablecloth. The restaurateurs explain that they detect that meals with a subsequent "afternoon" - fashion imported from Alicante, where it has been successful for some time - is one of the most popular options among groups and companies.
