Restaurant apologises after staff 'told not to take bookings from Gypsies'

A Welsh restaurant has issued a public apology after it was reported staff had been told not to take bookings from Gypsy and traveller community diners. Staff at El Prado by Martinez, in Laleston, Bridgend, were also allegedly told to cancel any bookings already made by people from such groups.

After the claims were made an apology was posted on the restaurant's social media channels and they said they were dealing with the matter "immediately". It said: "After a recent message was brought to our attention… we'd like to make it clear we welcome all bookings from the traveller community. We take discrimination very seriously and have a clear zero-tolerance policy for all of our team members. We'd like to apologise for any offence that may have been caused, and reassure members of the travelling community that we are dealing with this matter immediately".

Report Racism GRT, a group which collates reports and supports victims of discrimination against Gypsy, Roma, and traveller groups, shared a screenshot of a message that they allege comes from a the restaurant WhatsApp group. The message allegedly says: "Just to make you aware, I just had a… family trying to book a table for Father's Day. Always start by entering the telephone number of the customer when using ResDiary to book tables over the phone, this way ResDiary will show if the customer are blocked so you could tell them that we are fully booked. Check your bookings every day and if you spot any Gypsy booking cancel it straightaway."

Report Racism GRT told BBC Wales the message was discriminatory, adding: "Refusal of service is the highest form of discrimination levelled at the Gypsy, Roma, and traveller communities and this type of rhetoric is not uncommon. However, that said, it is rare that we receive hard evidence of this being a booking policy. Any form of discrimination or racially motivated abuse is unacceptable and we will challenge it whenever and wherever we see it."

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