No fiestas – but the show must go on

Tomorrow, Saturday, the legendary L’Olla midnight fireworks in Altea should have been taking place … sadly another casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic. The town hall did make the announcement some time ago that it wouldn’t be going ahead – along with the Moors and Christians parades which take place towards the end of September. This one-day extravaganza is a massive deal financially for many businesses in Altea. Restaurants that have a sea view are automatically block booked from one year to another and bars, cafes and even hotels or rentals are packed out for the weekend. Considering that in the region of 40,000 descend on the town to watch the firework display, it wasn’t unexpected but still rather sad. I have been a number of times, but parking is an absolute nightmare as you can imagine with so many people. But it’s a well-oiled machine and the organisation is amazing. I have never heard or experienced any incidents taking place - obviously the pickpockets have a field day, but never any fights or agro.

This week Alfaz and Finestrat declared the town fiestas, scheduled for later on this month are both also off and decently have allocated the money that was destined for them to the social services department, who are all overrun with cries for help from those that have lost their jobs and income.

At the moment the Benidorm fiesta, which is not until November hasn’t been cancelled. The mayor did say that it will go ahead in “some form” but who knows. I bet that they still have the loud ‘mascletas’ going off, but no-one will be allowed to physically watch – maybe apart from the fiesta queen and a few councillors… not that there is anything to see apart from lots of dense smoke and the very loud bangs. Perhaps it will be televised – we will most certainly hear it and those close by, see the plumes of smoke rising. The firework companies will certainly be feeling it this year with all town fiestas cancelled.

The one benefit of the lockdown and suspension of flights has been physically seeing an improvement in the environment and air quality. The sea was crystal clear and even the wildlife seemed to return. So many dolphins were spotted in Albir and close to the shore it was wonderful. With no jet skis, power boats etc they seemed to have grown braver and come closer. In that respect it’s a shame that things are returning back but sadly it’s a case of environment versus economy. Many I know are still waiting to see if they have a job to go back to and one has even gone back to the UK, albeit temporarily to try and find work.

Due to the UK government’s announcement bringing in a 14-day quarantine period for those arriving from Spain, more and more businesses here in Benidorm are feeling the repercussions. Just two weeks ago the popular family hotel Rio Park, part of the Med Playa group re-opened after the lockdown. Following the UK government’s quarantine announcement, they closed their doors last week after only a week – a casualty of this decision! With Jet2 and Tui both suspending holidays here many businesses have had to quickly rethink whether it is viable to reopen. The 4-star adult only Hotel Don Pancho are another casualty. If big companies are struggling it must be even harder for small businesses – hotels at least have clients from all countries and not just reliant on those from the UK. Many of the Brit run cafes and bars solely rely on British holidaymakers and in lieu of them, Visit Benidorm are actively promoting the resort to the domestic Spanish market at the moment. The majority of tourists here have stated that they feel safer here than they do in the UK but with uncertainly over quarantine it will unquestionably put many off coming or booking for realistically the remainder of this year. Obviously this pandemic has hit everyone worldwide, but with Benidorm reliant on tourism to survive – last year the British sector made up 41% of the market it’s a huge chunk that is unlikely to be made up from other markets. The increase in cases that the UK are referring to are mostly in Barcelona, a fivehour drive away and mostly from the 20-40 year age group, who continue to party and gather in groups. This would be like comparing London being locked down because of a spike in Leicester or Oldham, which is the situation at present.

The beaches are a lot quieter as are the attractions. Terra Mitica has written off 2020 and is not even planning on reopening until next year but thankfully all the other theme parks have. Even the boat trip to Benidorm Island is back up and running – although the café there remains firmly shut.

The iconic Benidorm Palace fling open their doors tonight which is always on everyone’s ‘To Do’ list and great news for the resort. They will be re-running last year’s successful production Aqua but with different specialty acts so definitely worth going. Slowly, slowly we’ll get there – I just hope it’s not too late for many. www.benidormallyearround.com