Tourism in Spain hopes for revival in summer

Thursday, June 17, 2021

After more than a year on lay off, Antonio Ramirez, a waiter in Benalmadena on Spain’s Costa del Sol, is finding it tough to make ends meet. He hopes that a revival in summer tourism will let him get back to work but situations remain uncertain.

“It’s awful to see all the hotels closed and the boardwalk all empty,” said Ramirez, 55, who has been on the government’s ERTE furlough support since the onset of COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.

Although foreign tourism in Spain, which is the world’s second most visited country before the pandemic, has begun a faltering rebound after going down 80% last year, arrivals remain at a fraction of 2019 levels.

“If the situation keeps on like this, I won’t be able to last much longer,” said Ramirez.

Activity in Benalmadena has somewhat shot up in the past weeks due to a recovery in domestic tourism and Ramirez is hopeful that the 400-bed hotel where he used to work will call him back in July.

“The day I get that call I will be very happy,” said Ramirez.

However, locals cannot fill the void left by international travelers. Just about half of the Costa del Sol’s 193 hotels are open, according to the region’s AEHCOS hoteliers association.

“There’s no point in opening borders if our main market countries do not open them as well,” said AEHCOS Vice-President Javier Hernandez.

The Bank of Spain has warned that this summer will be far from normal and a full recovery is not likely until 2023.
However, a few hundred kilometers away in Madrid, which is less dependent on foreign tourism, the situation is a lot better.

As per data from booking platform eDreams, July and August hotel reservations across Spain shot up almost four-fold from 2020’s lows, with Madrid featuring among the most popular destinations.

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