Benidorm winters
Whilst here we basked in 19-degree sunshine over the weekend, back in Blighty the Met Office issued a yellow weather warning on Sunday evening for snow in the south and southeast of England, with heavy snow also forecast overnight on Tuesday and continuing into Wednesday and mercury set to fall as low as minus 6 in England and minus 14 in parts of Scotland. Cold air was due to be sweeping in from the North Pole – I hope it doesn’t make its way down to us!
Gritters are at the ready, although no doubt already in use in some parts but it’s only a matter of time before schools are shut, the railway network grinds to a halt because of the wrong type of snow and airports face delays despite ample warnings and the likes of Heathrow with 185 snow ploughs on standby… probably one of the things we can’t even blame Brexit on though I bet some will try!
I was aghast one morning last week when the thermometer in my car ‘plummeted’ to a single figure – well only just at 9 degrees but we do tend to forget quite how cold the UK gets.
Having said that, parts of northern Spain experienced snowfall so it’s not unusual, but we are blessed here on the Costa Blanca to live in a micro climate, protected from the harsh weather most of the time. I bet I eat my words having jinxed that by next week as traditionally February is the coldest month here and today is the first day.
Taking a stroll along the Levante promenade last Sunday, it surprised me quite how many people were on the beach sunbathing, albeit, many were against the wall on the edge, protected from the slight breeze blowing. In the sun and out of the wind it was lovely but still not quite shorts weather, well not for me at least. However, if you’d have arrived from near zero figures then it was certainly hot in comparison.
Benidorm is certainly a great choice for winter sunshine, especially with such a short flight time from the UK, but with hotel prices on the up many are turning to other Med resorts offering better value for money.
Hotel occupancy for December (71.7%) was the second-best figure of the last 15 years and Brits made up just under 42%, although the year before it was 46%. However, it must be remembered that a number of hotels are shut over the low season, some for renovations such as the Helios near to the outdoor weekly market whilst others always do at this time of the year, reopening for Semana Santa – Easter. So the figure is only based on the number of hotels which are open, which may in fact only be three quarters… a little misleading? Perhaps the uncertainty of what will happen after March 29 is now also putting some off booking for the summer until there is clarity? Who can blame them! In preparation many hotels and those in the tourism sector attended Fitur Madrid last week, an international tourism fair where professionals establish marketing strategies for new markets. Let’s just say that Benidorm was very well represented, with the mayor and virtually all councillors attending – I wonder who was looking after the shop whilst they were all away on their jollies!
One of the things that they were promoting about Benidorm was the gastronomy. Mark my words, for most of the Brits that come here on holiday the only gastronomy they are interested in is that which is served at John & Joseph’s or Mariano’s – mind you with it being closed for holidays for another week yet, I wonder how chicken fans are coping!
Sadly, many do not venture past the Brit establishments offering food that they can relate to which is sad as they are really missing out. Having said that, if they all did then many bars and cafes run by expats would go out of business, so it’s a double-edged sword really. I love nothing better than popping down to Tapas Alley in the old town for lunch – sometimes just a few pieces of tapas costing around €1.50 each or occasionally pigging out, like I did the week before and really going for it, sharing a 1kg slab of chuletón, cut up into strips which you sear yourself on a hot plate, absolutely delicious… there was no Veganuary for me I’m afraid.