Benidorm hoteliers plan a phased launch for a summer that they already describe as atypical

FEW reservations and uncertainty over how and when travel can start are putting the brakes on Benidorm’s summer season.
Hoteliers’ association Hosbec foresees 25 per cent occupancy “at best” for July, assuming that inter-region travel is possible for autonomous communities like Madrid, one of the Costa Blanca’s principal tourist markets.
“Information varies each day, but one thing is obvious,” one hotelier told the local Spanish media.  “Almost half of the hotels will not lift up their shutters in early July and three in every four beds will be empty in those that do.”
Big local chains like Magic Costa Blanca, Servigroup and Med Playa are planning a gradual start to the summer season.
Magic Costa Blanca will reopen its first Benidorm hotel on June 22, with the remainder on June 29.
“It’s going to be an atypical summer,” its vice-president Javier Garcia said.  “Many hotels will remain closed.”
Servigroup expects a phased reopening of its hotels from July 1 onwards while Med Playa plans to open only two of its seven Benidorm hotels from July 7.
The remainder will wait until August, waiting for the arrival of foreign tourists – above all from the UK – once air travel resumes.