Everybody knows that we dine in Spain much later than in other countries, so not being able to stay open until midnight is pure economic nonsense, said Florentino Pérez del Barsa, a Madrid restaurateur.
While public attention often focuses on those who shout the loudest like the thousands who protested recently outside the Reichstag in Berlin and in Londons Trafalgar Square, calling the pandemic a hoax and a government-driven plot they represent only about 10 percent of the public, according to a study from Germany.
About 20 percent of people are against regulations, presumably for personal, emotional and financial reasons.
But Ms. Betsch, who has been working with the W.H.O. research group, said the larger concern is roughly half the population the fence-sitters.
They are open to regulations but need to be listened to and educated, she said, and new government policies that are fragmented only compound the frustration.
The choices facing national governments are onerous.
The French government, watching anxiously as hospital beds fill up, extended its maximum-alert red zone to many major metropolitan areas including Lyon, Grenoble, Lille and Saint-Etienne in addition to Paris, Marseille and Aix-en-Provence. Residents of Toulouse protested on Friday, fearing their city would be included.read more
As Virus Surges in Europe, Resistance to New Restrictions Also Grows
