Brazil´s Ceará state imposes decree restricting travel and tourism in Carnaval to prevent crowds

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In several of the state’s cities, roadblocks prevent unauthorized travel unless the need for it is demonstrated. Traders feel the impact on sales. Without foreign tourists, the paradisiacal beaches are empty and traders complain about the drop in income.

Ceará has imposed restrictive measures, which left several beaches virtually deserted.

Anyone trying to leave Fortaleza for Carnaval is forced to slow down in traffic jams at roadblocks, because only people who can prove their need to travel are allowed passage.

“I am going with my mother to Maracanaú, she is a teacher, so I went to school with her and I am coming back home now”, says a motorcyclist.

The direct consequence of these roadblocks can be seen on the beaches close to Fortaleza, such as Cumbuco, one of the most visited in Ceará. A beach bar, for instance, with no tourists around coming to spend the day, is experiencing 15% of the expected flow for the period.

Customers in 2021 are only hotel, inn, and condominium guests who had already booked before Friday, February 12th, the day when the social isolation decree for Carnaval in Ceará came into effect.

“We brought food, everything we needed to remain in isolation, we weren’t even going to come to the bars. Then we realized that there was no one here,” said psychologist Rebeca Moraes.

According to the decree, beach bars must close at 3 PM. Traders complain of the economic impact. “Directly, there’s an impact; and indirectly, street vendors, buggy drivers, rafts, everything you can imagine,” reported Steve Fung Loy, a bar owner.

In Canoa Quebrada, a beach bar didn’t even open, expecting reduced sales and limited opening hours. “Actually, for us to close at 3 PM, we have to finish at 2:30 PM, so it doesn’t pay off. This is the time that people are usually having lunch, those who come to the beach,” said Luis Nogueira, a bar owner.

But not everyone complied with the decree. The police stopped at least 3 illegal parties on the coast and also in the interior of Ceará. In one of them, 160 people crowded in a beach house.

On the other hand, on Jericoacoara beach, the most famous in Ceará, the ban on portable sound systems pleased those who had planned to enjoy Carnaval peacefully.

Source: G1

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