Concerted call to think again

HOTELIERS’ association Hosbec, the Generalitat and Benidorm town hall urged Britain to re-think its 14-day quarantine demand for Spain.
Meanwhile, Generalitat president Ximo Puig pointed out that the Valencian Community, and Alicante province in particular, have a lower Covid-19 incidence that the UK.
“The decision does not appear to be justified by current information,” Puig said.
He was “enormously concerned” by the situation and the consequences that Boris Johnson’s decision would have on this year’s tourist season.
Hosbec president Toni Mayor described the shock quarantine decision as a “heavy blow” that “poured cold water” on hoteliers’ hopes for the summer.
“We had a good feeling about the coming weeks,” Mayor said.
“Bookings were encouraging and although they were far from normal for this time of the year, we were hoping that things would have stabilised by September and October.
Britons account for 40 per cent of Benidorm’s visitors and many of the hotels that were still closed were preparing to reopen for August, the Hosbec president revealed.
“The Benidorm-Costa Blanca area is far from having a worrying health situation and bears no resemblance to what is happening in communities further north,” declared Mayor, who wants “safe air corridor” status for Alicante airport, similar to that of Baleares and the Canary Islands.
Benidorm’s mayor Toni Perez always weighed in, calling on Spain’s government to “act rapidly” in favour of the tourist industry, and Benidorm and the Costa Blanca in particular.