Top Madrid restaurant wine cellar locked up by tax authorities as owners struggle with debt
Wednesday, June 26, 2013 @ 10:39 PM
TAX authorities in Spain have sealed off the wine cellar of a Michelin-starred restaurant in Madrid over an unpaid debt – even though the owners are making huge monthly payments in an attempt to clear it.
Sergi Arola, who owns the Madrid-based restaurant of the same name, says six civil servants walked into his premises and, in front of a hall full of diners, locked up the wine cellar to prevent the owners from getting in.
Arola says he will have to lay off 15 employees because he cannot open his restaurant if he is unable to offer customers wine.
“This is how the State pays me for so many years of service as an ambassador to the country,” laments Catalunya-born Arola.
His world-renowned establishment is only part of the story – for some years he has been working as guest chef for Hotel W Opéra in Paris.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com