We're back in business…
THE SKY may have been grey and overcast on Monday – the first day of reopening after a period of hibernation, but the mood was full of colour and optimism.
Thankfully the rain that was initially forecast for the entire week hasn’t materialised, much to the relief of all the café, bar and restaurant owners who were at long last looking forward to seeing some semblance of normality returning.
Last Saturday in particular, when the weather was almost spring-like, many of those that had plans of welcoming customers back were all busy cleaning windows, tables, chairs and jet washing their terraces to within an inch of their lives. In the likes of Albir and Altea, more are open than not, probably not so reliant on tourists but in Benidorm, it is still looking rather quiet. With hospitality still having to close by 18.00 it really is a balancing act to see if it is viable for many.
Sadly, as predicted, another popular Benidorm bar – the Union Jack sports bar, located next to the Dynastic hotel in the Rincon de Loix announced that it would not be reopening after the ‘many negotiations with unreasonable landlords’ obviously reached deadlock. Some may foolishly think that it means more business for the other bars, so a good thing, but it has quite the opposite effect. Seeing deserted units locked up, with paper covering the windows and litter collecting on the terrace quickly turns roads into no go zones, killing trade for those located in between and so more closures.
Many hotels in Benidorm have now published proposed re-opening dates, hopefully prompting people to consider making bookings, obviously subject to change depending on the government.
We have two bank holidays coming up here – Friday, March 19, which is San José and the burning of the fallas and Easter, falling on the first weekend in April. Both of these will be long weekends and traditionally would attract vast numbers to the resort, with Brits among them for the Easter week.
Last year Spain was in total lockdown and this year is still far from normal. There certainly won’t be any Brits flying in, as BoJo has stated no international travel until at least May 17.
The Don Pancho on Avenida Mediterraneo, a super luxury adult only hotel is one that has given this date, but I wonder if the UK government changes that whether they will too?
P&O cruises have also just announced that summer 2021 cruises have been cancelled in response to the current restrictions on international travel. However, they will instead be doing some UK ones, departing from Southampton and sailing around the UK coastal waters… quite clever.
It looks like staycations will be on the cards for most of us for a second year running, although thankfully reading social media pages, the Brits thirst for returning here to Benidorm at least certainly hasn't dwindled. If anything, quite the opposite. There is actually pent-up demand for it.
I post pictures quite regularly and they just cannot wait, stating that at the first opportunity, they'll be on that plane Alicante bound. This is all good news for us and most importantly, all the businesses that rely on them economically to survive. Let’s just hope that they can hang on in there long enough to see their return.
The town hall is certainly preparing.
On Monday, they were pegging out the plots on Levante beach like last year. I must say it did look a little odd, not least, because it was so grey and windy and absolutely no one was out, but I like their enthusiasm. There’ll be no sunbeds or parasols available for hire just yet or a booking system.
In fact, they haven't actually confirmed that it will be operational this year, but then with the vast sum spent on the app they have to justify the cost.
In my opinion, just having the monitors there was probably the best idea. You turn up, at whatever time and if there is a free plot available then you can have it, rather than the ridiculous queuing system, which you could only reserve for the following day. www.benidormallyearround.com