Silent protest backed by 80pc of local bars and restaurants

An estimated 80 per cent of the 6'000 bars, cafes and restaurants in Majorca turned off their radios and tv sets today in protest at the tax which the Sociedad General de Authores (SGAE, the Society of Authors) is demanding as royalties. According to sources of the restaurant association, this percentage, slightly higher than the national average, set at 70 per cent, is the result of a telephone survey. The sources say that the SGAE “wants to charge for receiving programmes for which the radio and television stations have already paid the authors, producers and interpreters.” They claim that the SGAE wants any establishment which has a TV or radio to have a permit and to pay the charges that it sets, which will be a minimum of 1'800 pesetas a month. The same sources also say that at present, they pay SGAE more than 4'000 million pesetas for concepts such as the use of videos or musical equipment, but they refuse to pay just for receiving normal broadcasts. The day of protest was organised on a nation-wide basis by the Spanish hostelry federation.