Imserso impasse solved

IT looks as though pensioners will, after all, enjoy state-subsidised holidays on the Costa Blanca this winter.
Spain’s Institute for Senior Citizens and Social Services (Imserso) has now agreed that hoteliers should receive a daily rate of €25 per person instead of the original €21.
The future concessionary companies that will carry out the programme on behalf of Imserso have been asked to take the increase into account.
Despite falling short of the hoped-for €27, they will accept this so long as the concessionaries do not impose other conditions, announced Nuria Montes, secretary general of hoteliers’ association, Hosbec.
“But we shall still be operating at a loss,” Montes warned.
When the Imserso specifications were announced, Hosbec complained to the Contract Appeals Tribunal, bringing the programme to a temporary halt until the conditions were declared within the law.
The association had also presented a costing study prepared by the Alicante University which found that to break even, hotels should receive between €27 and €33 per person per day.
“Without a doubt, it’s going to be cheaper for Imserso tourists to spend the winter in a hotel instead of at home for what they will save on electricity bills alone,” Montes said.