View source for Apos;We Need Support apos; - Portuguese Restaurant Owners Stage Lockdown...

<br>LISBON, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Nine restaurant, bar and nightclub owners began a fifth day of hunger strike on Tuesday outside Portugal's parliament in protest against coronavirus restrictions.<br> <br>"We need support ... to keep our heads above water," said [http://www.gameinformer.com/search/searchresults.aspx?q=Alberto Alberto] Cabral, who runs a nightclub.<br> <br>The protesters - camping outside parliament and living off water, tea and  [https://kynghidongduong.vn/blog/le-hoi-hoa-tam-giac-mach-ha-giang-va-nhung-diem-check-in-voi-hoa-dep-nhat.html kynghidongduong.vn] coffee donated by their supporters - say they will not eat until they are met by the prime minister and  [https://kynghidongduong.vn/blog/le-hoi-hoa-tam-giac-mach-ha-giang-va-nhung-diem-check-in-voi-hoa-dep-nhat.html hoa tam giác mạch] economy minister.<br> <br>One more business owner joined their strike on Sunday.<br> <br>Bars and nightclubs have been closed since March and  [https://kynghidongduong.vn/blog/le-hoi-hoa-tam-giac-mach-ha-giang-va-nhung-diem-check-in-voi-hoa-dep-nhat.html hoa tam giác mạch] while restaurants were allowed to reopen in May, a curfew and weekend lockdown in place across most of the country since Nov.<br><br>8 has angered restaurateurs, who say many of their businesses will not survive the year.<br> <br>"It's just insolvencies, insolvencies," restaurant owner Joao Sotto Mayor said. "Many businesses depend on this time ... it's incredibly important that next weekend we return to normal opening hours."<br> <br>An online petition by the movement behind the strike is gathering steam, with nearly 45,000 signatures so far and gaining several thousand each hour.<br> <br>In compensation for weekend lockdowns, the government offered restaurants 20% of their average revenue between January and October of this year.<br> <br>Owners say this is nowhere near enough.<br> <br>"How can we sustain a company that isn't earning any money but has to pay taxes, pay for light, water?" asked Jose Gouveia, a nightclub owner and spokesman for the movement.<br> <br>The number of people registered as unemployed jumped 34.5% in October from last year's figures with around 72% of the newly unemployed working in [http://search.huffingtonpost.com/search?q=restaurants&s_it=header_form_v1 restaurants] or retail, according to government data.<br> <br>"Everything is dying here in Portugal," Gouveia said.<br><br>(Reporting by Miguel Pereira, Pedro Nunes, Writing by Victoria Waldersee; Editing by Ingrid Melander and Janet Lawrence)<br>