Colombia’s Restaurant Sector Asks for Urgent Post-Earthquake Lifeline
Colombia · HOSPITALITY
Key Facts
- —Damage The gastronomy association counts 554 restaurants destroyed or structurally damaged by the earthquake.
- —Jobs More than 2,700 restaurant workers have lost work or stable income.
- —Ask Suspend consumption tax and value-added tax, subsidise payroll, freeze forced collection.
- —Scale The Colombian restaurant sector and bar trade support about 1.68 million jobs.
- —Response An economic emergency is in force, but no restaurant-specific relief decree exists.
The Colombian restaurant sector wants tax suspension, payroll subsidies and soft loans after the quake.
Colombia’s gastronomy association is asking the national government for emergency help after the August 10 earthquake. It says 554 eating places were destroyed or structurally damaged by the tremor.
What the gastronomy trade body is demanding
Gastronómica Colombia, formally the Asociación Gastronómica de Colombia, went public with an urgent appeal on August 26. It asked the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism to turn its proposals into emergency decrees.
Executive president Brany Prado wants the consumption tax and value-added tax suspended for affected establishments. He also wants a state payroll subsidy to prevent mass layoffs across the Colombian restaurant sector.
The association asked the national tax and customs agency DIAN and city halls to stop forced collection. It calls seizure action against ruined businesses unacceptable when they have no premises and no cash.
A fourth request would freeze the advance withholding rate, which recently rose from 1.1 percent to 3.5 percent. The association says that change alone would return working capital to owners rebuilding kitchens.
The earthquake that emptied the dining rooms
A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck on August 10 with its epicentre at San José del Palmar in Chocó. The Rio Times has already reported the death toll, the damage and the emergency declaration.
Fifteen departments and 471 municipalities recorded direct damage, and the government put preliminary losses near 30 trillion pesos (US$9.62 billion). That is roughly 1.5 percent of national output, according to the emergency decree.
Peso figures here use the official representative market rate of 3,118.24 pesos per dollar for August 27, 2026. That daily reference rate is published through the Colombian government open data portal.
Restaurants in Cali, Pereira, Armenia, Manizales and Quibdó closed for safety checks or simply lost their customers. Reservations vanished while payroll, rent, suppliers and taxes kept falling due.
How deep the damage runs in the kitchens
The count of 554 wrecked or structurally damaged establishments is the clearest sector-level figure published so far. The same tally reports more than 2,700 people left without work or stable income.
In Valle del Cauca, the departmental government logged 1,462 damaged productive units on August 18. Preliminary losses there passed 47 billion pesos (US$15.07 million), with the rural census still running.
In Quindío, the Armenia chamber of commerce found that 83 percent of 1,955 surveyed traders reported damage. One in four needed urgent structural attention, prompting 820 site visits and 240 engineering inspections.
No official national tally of damaged restaurants exists yet, because several regional censuses are still open. Business groups expect a fuller picture once the chambers of commerce finish counting.
The size of the industry now at stake
Food and drink service, the statistical division that national agency DANE uses for restaurants and bars, supports about 1.68 million jobs. Asobares, the Colombian bar owners association, says that equals 55.2 percent of night-economy employment.
Asobares, drawing on those official statistics, puts first-half 2026 revenue at 64.13 trillion pesos (US$20.57 billion). Value added reached 22.62 trillion pesos (US$7.25 billion) over those six months.
Across the five worst-hit cities the trade generates 162,181 jobs and 3.41 trillion pesos (US$1.09 billion) in half-year value added. Cali alone accounts for 107,424 of those jobs and 2.16 trillion pesos (US$692.7 million).
The Colombian restaurant sector was already strained, with roughly 6,900 closures recorded during 2024. Acodrés, the Colombian gastronomy industry association, calculated that Bogotá operating costs would exceed revenue in 2026.
Other trade groups pushing the same case
Asobares asked on August 26 for the consumption levy to fall to zero for twelve months in affected zones. That tax currently stands at 8 percent on prepared food and drink.
It also proposed a seed fund, Capital Semilla para Renacer, administered through the chambers of commerce. Grants would go to the weakest businesses and soft loans to those able to recover.
Asobares wants payroll support of up to one minimum wage per worker for three months, extendable to six. Firms would have to keep at least 80 percent of their staff to qualify.
Fenalco, Colombia’s national federation of merchants, asked on August 14 for a reconstruction fund modelled on the 1999 coffee-belt scheme. President Jaime Alberto Cabal says 90 to 93 percent of the hit businesses are small.
Acodrés launched a sponsorship scheme called Plan Padrino on August 19 for damaged restaurants. Executive president Jaime López Mejía said more than 200 owners signed up within days.
What the government has actually delivered
President Abelardo De la Espriella declared an economic emergency on August 19 through Decree 1261 of 2026. It covers 15 departments for 30 days and lets the cabinet legislate by decree.
The decree enables temporary tax, customs and currency relief, but it grants nothing by itself. Each benefit depends on follow-up decrees that set amounts, beneficiaries, procedures and conditions.
No decree aimed specifically at the Colombian restaurant sector had appeared by August 27. Nothing has been announced on rent support for restaurants, whose leases remain fully payable.
The tax agency suspended administrative deadlines in Pereira, Buenaventura and Tuluá until September 11. Armenia, Manizales, Palmira, Popayán and Quibdó resumed their deadlines on August 26.
The financial regulator ordered banks to refinance quake-hit borrowers through Circular 007 of August 26. Officials in Valle del Cauca say the state lender Bancóldex will open a special credit line.
What this means for travellers and expats
Dining out in Cali, Pereira, Armenia and Manizales is patchier than usual, and sudden closures are common. Structural inspections can shut a building overnight, so confirm any booking on the day.
Trade bodies stress that no venue should reopen without checks on gas lines, wiring, exits and capacity. Diners can reasonably ask whether a building has been cleared by engineers.
Menu prices may drift upward if the requested tax cuts never arrive and owners pass costs on. The Colombian restaurant sector is carrying rent, payroll and taxes on far thinner sales.
Officials in Quindío and Valle del Cauca are urging visitors to keep travelling and spending locally. Tourism spending is the fastest relief the Colombian restaurant sector can actually receive.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is asking for restaurant relief in Colombia, and when?
Gastronómica Colombia made its formal appeal on August 26, 2026. Asobares, Fenalco and Acodrés filed separate proposals earlier the same month.
What exactly does the Colombian restaurant sector want?
Suspension of consumption tax and value-added tax, a payroll subsidy, and an end to forced collection. It also wants the advance withholding rate frozen.
Has the national government granted the aid?
Not for restaurants specifically, as of August 27. The emergency decree allows relief, and banks and the tax agency have already eased deadlines.
Connected Coverage
Colombia Economic Emergency Declared After Deadly Earthquake
Fitch Warns Colombia’s Fiscal Deficit Could Near 7% of GDP in 2026
Sources
- www.riotimesonline.com
- www.elpais.com.co
- www.elpais.com.co
- www.eltiempo.com
- www.bluradio.com
- www.bluradio.com
- caracol.com.co
- www.portafolio.co
- www.portafolio.co
- www.elcolombiano.com
- www.larepublica.co
- www.eltiempo.com
- www.valledelcauca.gov.co
- ciudadregion.com
- www.infobae.com
- www.datos.gov.co
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error
Read More from The Rio Times