Chef Adrián Rojas distributes food in his restaurant, which has been converted into a solidarity dining room, Casa28, in Madrid. EFE/ Ana Márquez
The outbreak of the coronavirus has meant that many bars, restaurants and cafes have had to close. But many have continued to work altruistically to feed those in need
The Spanish rock band Gabinete Caligari sang a song during the Movida Madrileña: “Bars, are great places to talk. There’s nothing like the warmth of love in a bar”. And they were right. Bars -like cafés, restaurants and the hospitality establishments in general- are places where you can meet up with your friends, talk, debate, sing, laugh or cry. A place of the people. In fact, one of the most shocking images of the current crisis caused by the coronavirus is, without a doubt, the image of more than 300,000 hospitality establishments closed.
However, many businesses have been reluctant to stop transmitting that “warmth of love in a bar”, during the Covid-19 outbreak. And they have done so through many solidarity initiatives, since the beginning of the crisis.
After the closure of establishments in adherence with the regulations of the state of emergency representative organizations of the sector such as Hostelería de España, Marcas de Restauración, Restauración Colectiva, AECOC and COMPETU put forward to the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism their willingness to collaborate so that the food they had in stock could be made available to hospitals, senior citizens homes and the security forces, coordinating efforts with local administrations.
The donation of products was quickly joined by hotel and catering associations in provinces such as Malaga, Guipuzcoa, Lugo, Valladolid, Leon, Zaragoza and practically the entire country, through NGOs and organisations such as Cáritas and local food banks. In addition to food, many of them provided cooking utensils to help with food preparation and distribution to the most vulnerable groups of the current crisis.
Feeding the heroes of this crisis and the most vulnerable
Health personnel in Valencia collect the food delivered thanks to the Food4Heroes initiative. EFE/Biel Aliño
In addition to the delivery of food to more vulnerable groups such as the elderly - many of them living on their own- and people with limited economic resources, the national hospitality industry organised an initiative to support the health personnel who have fought on the front line against the virus.
One of the first initiatives has been Food4Heroes in Madrid. A campaign through which well-known restaurants in the capital such as Honest Greens, Grosso Napoletano, Tierra Burrito, Manolitos Bakery, Goiko Grill, Tasty Poke Bar, Malvón, Brunch Club Café, The Food Circle, Bizzo Pizz, Pic & Nic and La Miguiña Bakery have delivered food to hospital workers.
In Barcelona, the initiative Comer Contigo, led by the gastronomic team of La Vanguardia and the chef Romain Fornell, has organised chefs, volunteers and organizations, from the kitchen of the popular Bar Leopoldo, to cook and deliver 1,000 daily meals to soup kitchens and healthcare workers in various hospitals around the city. In the same city, the Sagardi Group has launched the campaign #CapÀviaSense (“No grandmother shall go without”), to take advantage of their kitchen which had to close, to prepare 5,000 meals a day and offer them to elderly people who are in a particularly vulnerable situations.
Also in Barcelona, the HealthWarriors movement has also worked with fifty or so establishments to deliver lunch and dinner to these professionals free of charge. And in Zaragoza, the hotel business has joined Gastroaplausos, preparing around one hundred dinners a day for the staff of several hospitals in the city.
Donations of food and drink from solidarity restaurants have also arrived at the hospital installed in the Madrid exhibition centre, IFEMA. In this case, through the NGO Gastronomía Solidaria, which has brought together 200 volunteer cooks who are at the disposal of the Madrid City Council to provide them with food; and from the chain of cafes Viena Capellanes, there has been more help as they have used a food bus to feed the health workers under the slogan “Our IFEMA Heroes”.
The employee of a pizzeria in Valencia delivers food to a volunteer of the Post Office. EFE/Biel Aliño
Beverages have also been important: together with the Mahou San Miguel Group and Coca-Cola, the León Hotel and the Tourism Business Association have coordinated their efforts, and organised a campaign to collect drinks (and donations of food) to be given to both patients and staff at the field hospital at IFEMA. The most highly demanded has been bottled water, but they have also provided soft drinks, juices, milk and energy drinks.
In the same way the Malaga Hoteliers Association (MAHOS), has promoted the initiative Cocina para Héroes con Bata y Uniforma, through which establishments in the province are sending food to hospitals, senior citizens homes and to members of the police, civil guard and the military.
Not forgetting, of course, the initiative launched by Spain’s most international chef: José Andrés. His project, World Central Kitchen, which helped thousands of vulnerable people in the United States, has also landed in Madrid, gaining the support of numerous restaurants, chefs, companies and volunteers. The movement #ChefsForSpain -which follows #ChefsForAmerica in the United States- has added to its long list of collaborators: Grupo Arzabal, Dstage, Bulbiza and NH Collection Madrid Eurobuilding, which operate alongside the central kitchen in the Escuela Municipal de Hostelería de Vallecas, which has the capacity to feed 10,000 people a day.
These are just a few of the many solidarity initiatives that have been organised by restaurants, bars and cafes throughout Spain. But there are hundreds of professionals in this sector who have either converted their establishment into support centres or are using their goods and equipment to cook meals for those in need.
