The ARA echoes the widely shared videos of the young mayor of Cervià de Ter, the Cuban Guillem Surroca, who uses direct and convincing language to address popular issues—in a good way—such as tourism and housing.
In one of the videos, he talks about the hospitality industry. He wonders why a Swiss waiter earns more than a Catalan waiter, sitting in a bar, which looks beautiful, with marble tables, and then walking through a town (perhaps his own). The question is pertinent; it speaks to this sector with few vocations, with long and complicated hours, with people who start projects with great enthusiasm and who have to close because they don't succeed. He connects it with tourism, which is the harm we suffer in Catalonia, especially in large cities with ports; therefore, with cruise passengers. The discourse is reasonable and well-crafted, and connects with all kinds of people: young and old.
Now, in this bar where the video begins—which is perhaps "his" bar—he is seen sitting down, drinking a beer. I love beer, of course I do, and it's an easy drink that doesn't require much thought. It goes down very well cold, you can drink it straight from the mouth or in a plastic cup, and it's reasonably priced. But... what if he'd gone out drinking a glass of Catalan wine? A crisp white, a cava, or a light red? The challenge facing the industry is precisely to get young people like him to love wine, as they do in other parts of the world (Toro, Riesling, California, Puglia...). The industry is made up of restaurant workers, like the waiter who served him this delicious beer, but they're also farmers, ranchers, wine professors, sommeliers, coopers, journalists, designers, cork makers, chefs... I'll never tire of preaching that tourists are one thing and wine tourists are another, very different thing. I look forward to seeing the video!
