Restaurants in Dominican Colonial Zone About to Go Belly Up

During a pacific protest staged recently, owners of various restaurants in the Colonial Zone denounced that their businesses cannot survive any longer with losses caused by authorities’ interpretation of the 308-06 decree prohibiting expending alcoholic beverages in public businesses from midnight to 2 am on Fridays and Saturdays.

Employees and owners of four prominent eateries in downtown Santo Domingo claim that article 16 in decree 316-06 was stipulated to exonerate from the ruling those private areas where tourism centers are located, local city-sponsored festivities, Christmas holidays and New Year’s celebrations.

The restaurant owners sustained that the measure could be appropriate for other areas but not for their type of business, given that tourists are not aware of the reasons that motivate the restriction.

“They forget that we have come to give color and feeling to the zone, that we are an important attraction for tourists,” said one of the owners.