Spain’s hotel chiefs have warned they won’t be able to afford to reopen after coronavirus lockdown ends unless British holidaymakers are allowed to return.
Thousands of hotels in Spain won’t be able to reopen despite permission to do so from May 11 as part of the country’s de-escalation plan.
Hoteliers say that without international holidaymakers, including the huge British market on which all the popular resorts depend, there is ‘no point’ in spending money they haven’t got on social distancing and health regulations.
Hoteliers from Benidorm, the Canary Islands, the Costa del Sol and the Balearics say they will not be able to rely solely on the local and Spanish market to revitalise the hard-hit industry.
The Mallorca Hotel Business Federation has already warned that the Balearics ‘absolutely depend on arrivals by air’ and opening without tourists from other European countries is ‘just not feasible’.
Spain’s hotel chiefs have warned they won’t be able to afford to reopen after coronavirus lockdown ends unless British holidaymakers are allowed to return. Pictured: A Torremolinos restaurant shows what life cold be like for diners at the end of lockdown as it showcases screen between tables
Hotels will need to spend millions of euros on renovations for health security against a possible resurgence of the coronavirus and with a huge reduction in capacity due to the need for social distancing, plus staffing costs, hotels already in the red will just not be able to cope.
Spain hasn’t yet specified when international tourism will be able to resume with no dates yet set for the opening of ports and airports. International travel is expected to be last on the agenda after local, regional and national holidaymakers.
The Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodations (CEHAT) has also voiced major disappointment that the government has not told hoteliers what they need to do, what guidelines they should follow and how to manage the health crisis when guests start to arrive.
Jorge Marichal, president of the Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodations, said the government has not told hoteliers how to manage the health crisis when guests start to arrive
President Jorge Marichal said: ‘Tourist accommodation establishments such as hotels, apartments, resorts, hostels, camping sites, spas, which the Confederation represents, don’t know how to proceed with this opening and it will not be viable either in the vast majority of hotel facilities.
‘We need to be told exactly how to proceed with the opening and what measures will be necessary.’
He said hoteliers could only afford to make all the sanitary arrangements if there was ‘authorised reasonable mobility.’
‘If we do not have free movement, with all the necessary control measures, we will not action protocols,’ Mr. Marichal added and, referring to the 70 per cent decrease required in occupation, he added: ‘This is useless. We simply cannot open.’
He said despite the disappointment, hoteliers would not ‘throw in the towel’ and would ‘continue to work to save tourism in this country.’
In Benidorm and on the Costa Blanca, the hotel association HOSBEC said the government’s de-escalation plan must not become a ‘concrete-filled lifebuoy for tourism’.
President, Toni Mayor said: ‘In the conditions that President Sánchez has proposed, the opening of hotel establishments in these de-escalation phases is very complicated: on the one hand, because the limitations of capacity and services are hardly compatible with the tourist activity itself and, on the other hand, because it allows hotels to be opened without at the same time allowing the displacement of clients and tourists, which is a manifest inconsistency.’
‘Thus, the first conclusion we draw from the government plan is that the hotel activity that allows the de-escalation phases is very minimal.
‘In addition, the uncertainty goes even beyond the end of phase III scheduled for the end of June: without international air operations, there will be no tourism that recovers or activity that can guarantee a return to normality at reasonable levels.’
Without more financial help, Hosbec warns of ‘a cascade of layoffs, destruction of employment and even bankruptcy proceedings among hundreds of tourist companies.’
A mother and her son relax on a usually-crowded beach in Malaga, Spain, after children were allowed to go outside but hotels remain closed
A deserted beach in Ibiza, Spain, as international tourists are banned due to coronavirus
Benidorm’s Mayor, Toni Perez said despite the difficulties, hoteliers had to offer health safety guarantees so they could win tourists back, wherever they came from.
Hoteliers in Mallorca and Ibiza have also voiced concern that it isn’t worth opening unless there are international tourists.
‘The de-escalation plan does not solve at all how to proceed to the opening of hotel establishments. The conditions in which it is posed are unfeasible, although they give a false impression of back to the new normal,’ said a spokesman for the Mallorca Hotel Business Federation.
‘It is much worse in the case of the Balearic archipelago where we absolutely depend on arrivals by air and our majority issuing markets come from European countries. Reopening of hotels is just not feasible.’
Spain recorded its lowest daily coronavirus death tally in six weeks on Thursday, but data showing the economy shrank by the widest margin on record in the first three months of the year laid bare the heavy cost of measures to control the outbreak.
Spain has had one of the world’s worst outbreaks with more than 24,000 COVID-19 fatalities and in mid-March imposed one of the strictest lockdowns, though officials are confident the worst has passed and want to start easing measures next week.
Across the country, devastated businesses are contemplating how to return to normal in an environment where meticulous hygiene and social distancing will be of paramount importance.
‘They force us to take measures – but it is impossible to get what they ask for,’ said Livia Patare, a hairdresser on the Canary Islands who can open on Monday. ‘Yesterday I went crazy going to pharmacies and establishments looking for gloves.’
Canary Islands, Tenerife, during lockdown. Spain hasn’t yet specified when international tourism will be able to resume with no dates yet set for the opening of ports and airports. International travel is expected to be last on the agenda after local, regional and national holidaymakers
Beaches and hotels lie empty in a tourism sector that is one of the biggest contributors to the economy. Another big driver, construction and real estate, is at a standstill after only just recovering from the 2008 financial crisis.
‘This crisis will be worse for hotel workers than 2009 was for construction. At least then we still had tourism,’ said Francisco Rullan, who works at a hotel on the holiday island of Mallorca.
The number of fatalities related to the coronavirus recorded overnight in Spain fell to 268, the lowest since March 20, according to the health ministry. Cases rose to 213,435 – in a population of 47 million – from 212,917 the day before.
Spain’s economy shrunk by 5.2% in the first quarter compared to the previous period, preliminary data showed, with household spending plunging 7.5% as people hunkered down at home with most shops, bars and restaurants closed in March.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez outlined a four-phase plan to lift the lockdown with a planned return to normality by end-June.
Under the plan, hairdressers and other businesses that operate via appointment will open from Monday, while restaurants will be able to offer takeaway services.
By the end of June, beaches will be able to reopen.
Different areas of the country will progress through the stages at different rates depending on how the rate of infection evolves and other criteria like compliance with social distancing rules.