Coronavirus news

The passport and disrepute

The government had overlooked the specificity of licences for the hospitality industry

Employers associations pored over the text of the decree and detected a loophole | M.A. CAÑELLAS

Andrew EdePalma07/12/2021 09:51

I ’m loath to ever resort to clichés, but on this occasion ... . You couldn’t make it up. The utter confusion over the Covid passport stemmed from the fact that the wording sent to the Balearic High Court by the government referred to restaurant business. The subsequent decree therefore had to say the same, which was to provoke the nonsense that ensued.

The government had arguably believed that this was a catch-all term to cover bars and cafeterias. If so, then the government had overlooked the specificity of licences for the hospitality industry. These in themselves can seem to be a nonsense as well, but they are what they are, which the government should have known well enough.

Employers associations pored over the text of the decree and detected a loophole. The government initially said there wasn’t one, but then had to accept that there was. The high court, having in good faith rubber-stamped a government vagueness of terminology, would have looked most unkindly on its word (”restauración”) being knowingly misinterpreted by the very institution which had created the confusion. Isn’t there another word? “Prevaricación”?

There then came a government explanation to the effect that if the excluded establishments serve a menú del día, they are then included. Can anyone explain why this, as opposed to - for example - serving a plate of hamburger and chips, should make any difference?

I’m fine with the Covid passport, but its introduction - to use another cliché - threatened to bring the whole measure into disrepute.

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Jerry | over 3 years ago

Shouldn't this be a glaring issue that the High Court didn't even take the time to read? Wouldn't this be a sign that all of this mess is simply being rushed that normally wouldn't be? That should lead to questions of the entire scheme in general.

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