Spain: Food Service - Hotel Restaurant Institutional
Link to report:
The impact of the COVID-19 health crisis on the Spanish Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional (HRI) sector has been nothing short of devastating. After hosting another record number of foreign visitors in 2019, Spain received 72.4 percent less tourists during the first seven months of 2020 compared to the previous year. Following seven weeks of strict confinement, gathering restrictions, and capacity limits inside restaurants across the country, the Spanish hospitality sector estimates that about 40,000 businesses have already closed. Under the current scenario, the sector expects a total of 65,000 establishments will disappear by the end of the year. Throughout this time, food delivery services provided a lifeline for some restaurants. Just during the strictest period of confinement food delivery attracted 2.2 million new customers. Meanwhile, catering and institutional operations are virtually paralyzed with over half of its working force currently unemployed.