There was no organized party on Wednesday evening in a party tent of café-restaurant Luden on the Plein in The Hague, owner John Prins says.
A DJ was playing and a group of young people spontaneously started hopping, standing close together. They were urged to sit down, the music was immediately stopped, Prins told Radio West, and the incident lasted no more than a few minutes.
Images disseminated by English television of young people partying on the Plein are no more than a snapshot, says Prins. Nevertheless, they caused a lot of commotion. Café Luden is located opposite the building of the House of Representatives, where at that time there was a debate about the tightened corona measures.
Hospitality entrepreneur Prins denies that boas and police stopped the party around 10 p.m., as the municipality of The Hague reported in a press release. According to him, he stopped the music at 9.30pm. Then there was some chaos: back and forth of people who wanted to pay their bill. Prins says he himself went to police officers who were present on the Plein.
The mayor and the minister were disgraced
Mayor Van Zanen of The Hague, Minister Bijleveld of the Ministry of Defense, also located on the Plein, MPs and Koninklijke Horeca Nederland spoke shame of the dancing young people in the establishment. “These people don’t care about the hard-working people in healthcare, the patients who are in the ICU or whose surgery is being postponed,” says Van Zanen.
For three years now, Luden has covered the terrace in winter with parasols with sails, making them look like party tents. A DJ plays music on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. Prins says he has always carefully adhered to the corona measures. His guests have to stay put. That it went wrong, he attributes to a combination of wrong music, goodbye to the hospitality industry and emotion.
Mayor Van Zanen will have the incident investigated, after which it will be examined what measures the municipality can take against Luden and his visitors.
The Plein in The Hague was not the only place where young people let loose. RTV Rijnmond posted a video on its website of young people singing and hanging together in the Witte de Withstraat at ten o’clock Wednesday evening, the moment when the catering industry had to close for four weeks.
Also read:
Now that the catering industry has closed down, the entire chain is on the hook
If a cafe or restaurant has to close, there is a whole chain behind it that is also the victim. What does the new lockdown mean for suppliers at the back door?
