Two birds with one stone, or the holiday measures in Poiares

These are aimed at simultaneously helping the catering and taxi industries

On Friday, 11 December, the Municipality of Vila Nova de Poiares gave the start to an initiative called ‘Taxi Take Away’, which aims to provide support and a boost to two of the most struggling sectors during the pandemic restrictions – catering and taxi services. The campaign, lasting until 4 January 2021, gives residents the chance to order meals from participating restaurants, which will be delivered free of charge, as long as the value of the order is more than 5 euros.

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This a clear measure of direct support from the authorities to workers and entrepreneurs in these two sectors with the aim of helping them get through the holiday period, which this year has turned out to be quite extraordinary.

It should be kept in mind that the special offer extended to the residents only applies within the limits of the municipality. The other two conditions in place are: placing lunch orders no later than 12:00 and dinner orders before 19:00.

“Christmas dinners and lunches are an important source of revenue for catering at this time of year, particularly in Vila Nova de Poiares, where there is a great demand on the part of companies and institutions outside the Municipality to local catering firms to organize the Christmas parties. Given the pandemic situation we are experiencing, the ban on organizing this type of events is seen as yet another setback in the countless difficulties that economic agents have been facing,” said João Miguel Henriques, the Mayor of Poiares. 

Parallel to that, the Municipality is also running another campaign in support of traditional commerce during the Christmas Period. This one is called ‘Support what is ours’ and it will last until 6 January 2021. With it, for every 10 euros spent by residents, they will get raffle tickets, which give them the chance to win one of 108 vouchers (valued 10 – 200 euros) to be spent in local shops and restaurants.