Alex Trelinski
ALICANTE Provincial Council leader, Carlos Mazon, has demanded urgent action from Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, and his government to help the Costa Blanca tourist sector.
Mazon, the Alicante Partido Popular president, is ideologically opposed to the socialist-led national government and fired a verbal volley against them for their policies.
He claims there was ‘little foresight’ shown in planning for the Easter holiday period in regard to the tourist sector.
Carlos Mazon said: “It is of major regret that Easter could not help tourism in the Costa Blanca. In Benidorm, only 13 hotels were open at just 30% capacity.“
He blamed domestic travel restrictions with closed regional borders coupled with low reservations for the plight of hotels.
It’s unlikely that mobility restrictions will be loosened soon nationally as COVID-19 infections are beginning to climb.
Mazon said that with low infections on the Costa Blanca, the government should have considered some form of inter-regional travel before Easter.
“We’ve reached the stage when nobody knows who is actually behind this absolute incompetence,” he added.
Areas like Benidorm also rely heavily on international bookings with many potential visitors unable to leave their countries even if they wanted to.
He also attacked a new mask-wearing mandate for beaches calling it ‘the joke of all jokes’.
Mazon said that 500 travel and booking agencies on the Costa Blanca had been forgotten during the pandemic
“They have been closed for over a year with no income, but with bills to pay and no obvious way out of their predicament, “ he said.
