An excellent Easter

MAGNIFICENT, brilliant, spectacular, the best in years… hardly words the Costa del Sol is used to hearing from hostelry professionals in recent years!

Yet the group, which tends to give moderate forecasts, has confirmed what was clear to the naked eye over Easter.

Having to wait for a table at a restaurant, push through crowds on seafronts or fight for space to put a towel down on a beach had been distant memories for many locals on the Costa.

But excellent weather and increased confidence in the economy brought tourists flocking to the area for their holidays, beating even the most optimistic expectations for the period.

A total of 1.2 million visitors headed for Andalucia over the holiday period, and 35.5 per cent of them stayed in Malaga Province, according to the Andalucian tourist board.

While Malaga City reported that visitors had spent an estimated €34.7 million during the week, Costa bar and restaurant owners counted their earnings and breathed sighs of relief while looking to the summer months with a glint in their eyes.

“Beach bars had 10 days earning amounts usually reached in July,” said beach bar association president Manuel Villafaina.