Buenos Aires center in agony due to restrictions

The downtown of Buenos Aires, home to government buildings, large companies, shops, and tourist attractions, has turned desolate as the coronavirus pandemic has deeply impacted local businesses.

Tourists and workers disappeared after the closure of borders and the remote work imposed in Argentina a year ago to stop the advance of the coronavirus. The measures caused the closure of popular bars and restaurants, clothing stores and bookstores, many of which had survived previous repeated economic crises. Now a multitude of for-rent signs appear on shops that surround the half-empty skyscrapers.

According to a report by the Argentine Chamber of Commerce and Services main commercial areas in Buenos Aires are increasingly empty, and in the central Florida pedestrian area, the spaces for rent have doubled. The landmark Olazábal tailor's shop, one that was valued by executives, bankers, tourists, and presidents for 60 years, hung a closure sign on its window.

Andrea Perelmuter decided to close down the shop due to a lack of customers and tourism. She has been in charge of the family business since her father Mauricio, an 88 year-old tailor, contracted COVID-19.

Argentina avoided the collapse of health services thanks to a strict quarantine that was imposed last March and was made more flexible by districts as of the middle of the year. However, the economic recession that dragged on from previous years deepened with a further collapse in consumption and the loss of thousands of jobs.

The traditional Tortoni cafeteria, founded in 1858 on Avenida de Mayo, has just a handful of tables occupied, missing the traditional mixtures of languages that used to be heard. "We depend on tourists. The only thing that is going to relaunch us is tourism. Meanwhile, we are working at a loss", said Miguel González, in charge of the business that had composer Carlos Gardel and writer Jorge Luis Borges among its recurrent patrons.

Tortoni's turnover fell by 80%. Merchants are worried about an extension of remote work after health authorities control the pandemic.

Even some of the most prosperous are worried about the survival of their businesses, as the slow vaccination and the appearance of new variants of coronavirus have prolonged a ban on the entry of tourists who used to flock to downtown Buenos Aires.

Image: AP