Portugal reopens cinemas and concert halls with caution

Cinemas, theaters and concert halls began to reopen Monday, June 1 in Portugal, some seventy days after they were closed due to a pandemic. This symbolic decision is part of the country's general deconfinement policy.

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With this third phase of the lifting of the restrictions imposed on the Portuguese, teleworking ceased to be compulsory and believers were again allowed to attend religious celebrations.
Sports halls have also reopened with new health regulations, as have shopping centers across the country except the Lisbon region.

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The capital and its suburbs have seen a higher increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in recent days than in the rest of the country, but this exception will be re-examined on Thursday. Of the 200 new cases of Covid-19 identified in 24 hours, 193 were in Lisbon and its region, according to the latest assessment published Monday by the health authorities which reports a cumulative number of 1,424 deaths and 32,700 reported cases .

In Lisbon, the Ideal cinema hall has reopened in the heart of the old town. An audience mainly composed of moviegoers had made the trip to attend this first session in the early afternoon.

A young Lisbon student confided in her joy at seeing a movie again in the cinema: “ I missed the cinema terribly! I especially didn't want to miss this session. It is a film that I have already seen but it does not matter! ” . And another Lisbon film buff, in his forties, said, almost amazed: "It has been twenty years since I had not stayed so long without going to the movies!" .

As soon as the session started, one of two receptionists rushed to disinfect the counter, the tables of the small cafe and the toilets. For his part, producer and distributor Pedro Borges, who operates the oldest Lisbon cinema, admitted, however, " that he was aware that the return of spectators would be slow."

While the Minister of Culture Graça Fonseca called on spectators to " return to cinemas and the theater ", the artistic circles continued to ask him for more public aid to remedy the general precariousness of this sector.
Other cinemas preferred to wait to open to the public in order to have more time to implement the new sanitary rules.

Finally, in Lisbon, the arenas of Campo Pequeno are also preparing to host their first show. This room with a capacity of more than 9000 seats, will welcome Monday evening only some 2000 spectators, who will all have to wear a mask.
Tickets for the comedian Bruno Nogueira, who during the confinement had gathered up to 170,000 people around his conversations broadcast on Instagram, were snapped up in less than 15 minutes, according to promoters delighted with such enthusiasm.