The Future Of The Chiringuito In Almerimar
November 1st, 2008 - Chris Marshall
As you no doubt are aware we are big fans of the chiringuito and for years they have been a feature of Almerimar beach life. They look rough, are generally a little bit run down, but serve excellent food, with friendly staff and are a great place to chill out during the day, or to grab a late drink or three in the summer.
Well it seems that they may be soon a thing of the past! You will have noticed that not only have they closed down as usual for the summer, but many have actually been removed fully, and I am not sure they will be replaced. If they are it could be with more formal, modern beach bars, that will be rented out for 22.000€ a year!!!!
According to Dave
- Annual rent is €22,000 (inflation linked), despite the high season only being for a couple of months in the summer. The rentee can “improve” on this rent if they want to improve their chances of getting in!
- The renter must have at least 12 years experience in the catering trade (as demonstrated by economic activity, which basically means self employed only).
- You are expected to obtain and pay for all licenses yourself (even opening licenses!).
- An annual insurance policy is specified which the Chamber of Commerce reckons is double what is required by law.
- €12,000 must be deposited as a fianza, returnable at the end of the rental period (and inflation being what it is, it ain’t going to be worth €12,000 in a few years).
- The rental period is for a minimum of 15 years, with a potential extension of a further 10 years. So if you go broke in your second year… you lose the €12K, plus penalties.
This is total madness. In the current climate the council should be doing all it can to encourage and support businesses not prohibit them. Personally I can’t see how anybody can justify these terms and I would be surprised if this isn’t the beginning of the end for the chiringuito, and the start of horrible chain or themed bars!!!
Am tempted to set up Save The Chiringuito group …….. maybe we can get some momentum going with comments on the site????
Got to love the quote from the local chambers though:
“Almerimar is not Torremolinos” says the Chamber of Commerce, “and this is ridiculous”.
Again, thanks Dave for bringing this to my attention!!!!
December 7th, 2008 at 7:03 am
[...] wrote before about The Future Of The Chiringuito In Almerimar and now I can bring you evidence about how they are ruining the beaches here in Almerimar, and [...]