- New coronavirus restrictions in Valencia regions begin
By Andrew Atkinson
Following the announcement of new coronavirus restrictions in the Valencia regions, holiday cancellations have begun which could have a dramatic effect ‘on what is left of the summer’.
Hosbec and the Alicante Provincial Hotel Association criticised the new restrictive coronavirus measures which they say could ‘sink the summer’ pointing a finger at the central and regional administration as they did so.
“They had months to ensure that this would not explode in the middle of summer”, said Nuria Montes and Victoria Puche, General Secretary of the Hosbec employers’ association and President of the Alicante Hoteliers, respectively.
“They have thrown our image on the floor, which ruins all the effort made to prepare ourselves during the last months,” said Montes.
“The bad thing is that you could see it coming – but whoever was responsible to manage is has not seen it – and, above all, we continue with a very low vaccination rate,” added Montes.
They accuse the Government and the Consell of inventing measures one-day-to-the-next, thus damaging the image of the Costa Blanca.
The hotel sector faces newly imposed restrictions including a 1am-6am curfew, through until August 16 in all of the main tourist towns.
The move comes just as we can see a marked increase in holidaymakers arriving in Spain after a plethora of cancellations since the Covid-19 outbreak hit in March 2020.
The central government and the Consell are accused of having rushed coronavirus decision making, not foreseeing what could happen. They have not controlled the ‘bottle parties’ that has led to an increase in coronovirus positive cases.
Benidorm Covid-19 cases rose from 12 to 505 per 100,000 inhabitants in a six week’ period.
The new curfew sees hoteliers, some of which have now closed permanently, and others in the Valencian Community hit yet again, having been closed for over a year prior.
The Fourth Section of the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice (TSJ) authorised the limitation to a maximum of 10 people of social and family gatherings throughout the Valencian Community and the restriction of night mobility between 1am-6am in 77 towns with more than 5,000 inhabitants, that present a greater epidemiological risk from Covid-19.
The measures are contained in a resolution of the Conselleria de Sanidad Universal dated July 21 and will be in force during the period between July 26 to August 16.
