The tourism crisis that Spain is going through and that threatens an important part of the GDP and employment is far from homogeneous. The rural areas, the mountains and the north of Spain live a golden summer season under the circumstances, with occupations bordering on 100% in many places. Nothing to do with him collapse suffered in the destinies of mediterranean coast and in cities like Barcelona, where the open hotels still do not reach 30%. The mountain is winning the game over the sun and the beach clearly in the most atypical summer season in memory.
“We are very satisfied,” says Ángel Cuevas, president of the Cantabria Hospitality Business Association (AEHC), one of the autonomous communities where the season is working best. The July results have surprised the entrepreneurs themselves, far exceeding forecasts after the forced stoppage of the state of alarm. “We have invoiced around 15% less than in the same month of 2019, because the occupancy has dropped a little and so has the average price; these are good data compared to other Spanish regions ”, says Cuevas. For August they expect a similar activity, if not greater. Yesterday the level of reserves touched 90% compared to the previous year.
“People do not stop arriving and we are going to have a longer season than usual”, they explain in Asturias
The neighboring Asturias does not reach the levels of Cantabria globally. “We are at 65% activity and with a lot of uncertainty, a lot of last minute reservations, although we cannot complain if we look at other communities,” they explain from the Otea employer association. However, the rural areas of the principality are close to full capacity and the sector does not hide their enthusiasm for the July and August march.
“We have had a good July, with occupancies of 90% and now we are approaching 100%, we even believe that the season will be longer this year”, says Adriano Berdasco, president of the Asturian Federation of Rural Tourism (Fastur). Tourists began to arrive in rural Asturias earlier than other years, already at the end of June, and if the rate of reservations is maintained, the campaign will last until mid-September, something that is not usually usual, says Berdasco.
Something similar happens in the Catalan Pyrenees. The confinement of the Segrià last month and the increase in the pandemic in Barcelona and the metropolitan area have not prevented tourist businesses in the mountain from moving at a relatively good pace, says Juli Alegre, head of promotion of the Tourist Board of the Lleida County Council. The campsites in the Pyrenees foresee an occupancy this month of 80%, the rural houses of between 60% and 70%, while in the hotels it will be around 80%. On the flat of Lleida, on the other hand, the level of activity is much lower. During July, the occupation in the mountain regions of the province was 35% in the first fortnight and 60% in the second, with peaks at weekends of up to 80%.
Figures, which, although they are below last season, improve those registered in the destinations of the Mediterranean coast. In Mallorca, despite the efforts of the regional government with tourist corridors, the average occupancy in July stood at 37%, five points below the initial forecast of the island’s Hotel Business Federation, while on the Costa Brava it has ranged from 40% to 60% on weekends and 20% to 30% from Monday to Thursday. In the Valencian Community, beach hotels reached 41% average activity, while for August they expect to reach 50% occupancy, according to data from the Department of Tourism.
All those consulted agree on the reasons that explain the advancement of rural tourism: little overcrowding, with fewer and smaller accommodations, more natural spaces to enjoy and little weight of foreign visitors. Almost one hundred percent of the tourists they receive in these areas are Spanish. Here Adriano Berdasco, from Fastur, launches a warning: rural tourism has to avoid the mistakes and excesses committed on the coast for years.
And it is that travelers, he assures, will flee more and more from crowded destinations and will seek greater exclusivity, which this summer marked by the pandemic they have found in the mountains.
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