Jon Aristu |
Pamplona (EFE).- University Thursdays are a reality in many Spanish cities, but in Pamplona, from being something spontaneous, it has become an orchestrated movement that already has public transport to return home.
A little over ten years ago, the hotel business in the capital of Navarre launched a pot and pintxo promotion for 2 euros that meant that for many years, every week, on Thursdays the most emblematic streets of the Old Town of Pamplona were filled.
It was a way of extending the weekend for the hotel industry, making sure that on Thursdays, from 7:00 p.m. or 8:00 p.m., the bars would fill up with customers. The promotion ran from that time until 11:00 p.m., depending on the venue, but that way, it was early time to go out for a drink.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic arrived, many establishments had already withdrawn the offer and after the health crisis and the restrictions on the hospitality industry, only a handful of establishments maintain what is known as “juevintxo”.
The bars managed to keep that way of going out on Thursdays, from early in the morning, and now, despite the fact that the prices are different, university students go out earlier to consume in the city’s bars and restaurants.
Neighborhood issues
For the residents of the Old Town of Pamplona, this fact has always caused them discomfort since it consists of extending the noise at night to a weekday that the next day is a working day.
The residents have met with the City Council on numerous occasions to demand measures that distribute leisure throughout the city or that such crowds of young people do not occur, which after the lifting of the restrictions even caused incidents in the streets of Casco Viejo.
The neighborhood associations have always shown their disagreement with the facilities that have been able to be put on nightlife on Thursdays.
The Commonwealth extends public transport hours
Now the Commonwealth of the Region of Pamplona has extended the hours of public transport until 04:00 in the morning, which means that those who go out to party on Thursdays, when establishments with a special license close, have the possibility of going back to His house in Villavesa, as the urban buses in Pamplona are known.
Spokesmen for the Commonwealth explain, in statements to EFE, that it is not a question of reinforcing the service for nightlife, but of an expansion of all the lines, not only those that go to the center.
In fact, it is a measure that the Commonwealth contemplated before the pandemic to carry it out every day of the week. But with the arrival of the covid, everything stayed in the drawer.
Now, in addition to Fridays and the eve of public holidays, the villavesas operate until 04:00 on Thursdays, but with the idea of gradually extending it to every day of the week.
It is a deficient measure, according to the calculations of the Commonwealth, but they hope that on Thursdays it will not be so deficient, since they recognize that it will have a greater influx of people. The measure also helps taxi drivers who could not meet the demand at that time when the party bars close.
The hotel industry does not believe that this expansion of the service will mean a greater number of young people who go out on Thursdays, but they do appreciate that workers who leave at that time can return home by public transport.
For the residents, it is a measure that reinforces nightlife and they even exchanged emails with the president of the Commonwealth, who explained that the measure is based on technical criteria and not only reinforces the downtown lines, but all the what’s up.
