Brits sit it out and play musical chairs in the sunshine to save their beer gardens

Costa Blanca News | Noticia

Nobody wants to be stuck indoors when the sun is shining, and that goes double for bar customers - especially holidaymakers from chillier climes who have spent all year looking forward to their fortnight of blazing heat.

And those who smoke - whom bar-owners say account for 44 per cent of their clientèle - have little choice in the matter whether it's sunny or not, now that they are banished to the beer garden all year round.

To help meet the needs of these people, support local traders and promote café culture on the Costa, Jávea's mayor, Eduardo Monfort, ordered all bar-owners to remove their outside tables and chairs or face heavy fines.

Bar-owners and customers alike expressed their undying gratitude to Monfort by not voting for him in the recent elections, causing his party to fall spectacularly from grace.

Although Monfort claimed he had only been complying with legal requirements and was merely carrying out the instructions of the Dirección General de Costas, the opposition parties said this was complete poppycock.

"No action should have been taken as regards removing outside seating areas until an agreement had been reached with all affected parties and a solution found, which solution should then have been presented to the Dirección General de Costas together with the determination to fight for the rights of those who bring the money into Jávea," said Nueva Jávea councillor Juan Planelles.

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