‘Full-up’ signs for Marina Baja hotels

JULY’S tourism figures were the second-best ever recorded, with a 5.9 per cent increase in foreign visitors.

The figure quoted by Jose Manuel Soriano, Minister for Industry, Energy and Tourism, applied to Spain as a whole although the Costa Blanca was not excluded from the good news.

The Costa is enjoying its best summer in seven years, revealed hotel and catering association, Hosbec.

Supermarket queues, traffic jams, almost-full hotels and packed bar and restaurant terraces all point to a period of resurgence, according to Hosbec President Antoni Mayor.  

However, last-minute bookings were less lively than in previous years and the UK market, the Costa Blanca’s main source of tourism, “had relaxed a little,” Mayor admitted. “But the sector is having a good summer,” he said, adding: “We’re not grumbling.”

Overall, Alicante Province has had 90 per cent hotel occupancy with Benidorm, Altea, Finestrat and Alfaz del Pi enjoying the best results.