A few days after authorizing the opening of cafes, Mar del Plata registers record assets

Although the cases are not directly related to the opening of cafes that the municipality launched the Last Friday without the endorsement of the Province, it will be necessary to see how the mayor Guillermo Montenegro acts in the face of this new picture of the epidemiological situation since circulation in the city increased . In this sense, the communal head of Together for Change has always made it clear that in the event of an adverse situation he would be the first to back down.

“ Ratifies what we have always been saying. If you raise the circulation it is inevitable that the cases will begin to rise. The interesting thing is to have the ability to mitigate outbreaks. Mar del Plata has the capacity to contain, but if they go hand in hand they will have to go back in phase ”, say sources from the Buenos Aires Ministry of Health. And they add that “we established a phase criterion based on many variables. But there are mayors who make their own decisions and ultimately make mistakes. As has happened in Olavarría. ”

Within the health context of the municipality, the political pulse rises again. And reasons are not lacking. Beyond the good relationship that the mayor maintains with Governor Axel Kicillof, in the Province they are not happy with the way in which the municipal chief is acting. “ Montenegro responds to business pressure. But we all have pressure from different sectors. The situation in Mar del Plata is complex, but yesterday the governor presented an ATP for the citizens of Buenos Aires and a fund that will be used for tourism and culture, where Mar del Plata will be one of the main beneficiaries ”he assures. a source of the provincial executive.

Among the measures announced by the governor is the implementation of a fund of 300 million pesos for culture and tourism that will be distributed among the 135 Buenos Aires districts. In addition, the Ministry of Labor will have another 500 million pesos fund to help with 50 percent of the payment of wages (in the vital and mobile minimum) for a period of three months.

Added to this, the provincial deputy of Together for Change, Daniel Lipovetzky, is preparing an initiative to declare an emergency in the gastronomic sector, in order to contain the particular situation in this area .

In this scenario, the rope politics tense again. And if the epidemiological situation continues its upward curve at the local level, the Province will put aside its permissive role in relation to the attitude taken by the district with the pilot test for the opening of cafes, an activity that did not it is enabled by national decree for the localities that are in Phase 4, such as Mar del Plata, but that Montenegro decided to activate through a local decree that had the recommendation of the Special Commission for Economic Reactivation of the Deliberative Council.

Mar del Plata's action sets a precedent for risk. It is known, the mayors are those who know the situation of each district the best. But the question that arises is to what extent can they ignore a national decision?

The local situation is critical . There are bars and restaurants that should have closed their doors after many years. A scenario that the city also went through without a pandemic in the middle when in the first six months of 2017, 60 gastronomic establishments closed due to the drop in consumption, the impact of the increase in services and the value of rents. And that it gained strength again when 2018 started with 20 percent less than the previous year. Today, the Fonte D Oro, Montecatini and other local emblems are going through a complex situation for an area on which more than 20 thousand people depend. . Will the cafes remain open? We will have to wait until Friday.