Editorial: Summer openings

Everyone deserves a holiday especially in July and August but I find it rather amazing that shops and restaurants in Palma actually close down in August at the height of the tourist season. Probably these same businesses will be moaning and groaning in October and November that their takings are down!  You would have thought that all businesses would make an extra special effort during the summer. But sadly, in some cases, this does not happen. I was also  rather amazed to see the other night that bars and restaurants around the bullring, where a major concert was taking place, closed their doors for business just as the 12,000 who attended the event, were leaving and heading home. If you own a small business such as a bar or restaurant around the bullring in Palma surely you would have thought that Christmas had come early if 12,000 people walked past your door on a Friday night.  But no, midnight is their closing time and they closed up shop. Those bars and restaurants that did open enjoyed fantastic business.  But many only stayed open because it was a football night (the final of the Spanish Super Cup).  Sunday opening has  again been quietly forgotten in Palma and even the extended opening hours during the summer months have been scrapped. In these hard times, and with the prospect of a long and cold winter ahead of us, surely it would be best to make the most of the summer season. But obviously, some do not think so.