Michael D hailed over thrifty trip to Canaries
PRESIDENT Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina have flown by Ryanair for a New Year’s break in Gran Canaria, it has emerged.
And the presidential couple’s low-budget holiday is being hailed by the Spanish press as a good example for European leaders – in contrast to the lavish spending by the Spanish PM in a recent trip.
Mr and Mrs Higgins are staying in a four-star seafront hotel at a total cost for the week of just €2,000. They saw in the New Year at the San Agustin Beach Club on Gran Canaria – a modest holiday, following accusations during the Presidential election that Mr Higgins stayed in a €3,000-a-night suite in a Swiss hotel.
Hotel sources told local press that the President made it clear when he arrived that he was on a private holiday and did not want any special treatment.
A group of Scandinavian tourists staying at the hotel told island paper La Provincia that Mr Higgins and his wife regularly went down for breakfast at around 8am.
A Spanish holidaymaker couple admitted that although they had not recognised Mr Higgins, they could tell he was someone important ‘because people looked at him a lot’.
The only giveaway that a VIP guest has been staying at the hotel has been the 24/7 presence of two Spanish police officers at its doors.
One well-placed source said: ‘Mr Higgins made it clear he didn’t want a welcoming ceremony or any other type of official event. He was adamant he was on a private holiday and he wanted to blend in with the other hotel guests as much as possible.’
However, the President happily posed for selfies with holidaymakers who recognised him.
Now Mr Higgins’s low-key holiday has been held up as an example by the Spanish press, who have contrasted it with prime minister Pedro Sánchez’s recent trip to the nearby island of Lanzarote.
Mr Sánchez used the state Falcon plane to fly to Lanzarote and stayed at the La Mareta palace, one of the official residences of the Spanish royal family.
Spanish daily ABC said: ‘The Irish President [is] on holiday in the Canary Islands like Sánchez, but paying for his low-cost ticket out of his own pocket rather than charging it to the taxpayer.’
President Higgins, who jetted to Gran Canaria with Ryanair on December 28, is believed to have been granted leave until tomorrow.