Just ’10 to 15′ hotels are predicted to remain open in Benidorm from mid-September.

Benidorm’s largest and leading hotel association, HOSBEC, said the majority of hotels that re-opened for July and August will soon close.

HOSBEC’s president, Toni Mayor, told Alicante Plaza that a lack of international tourists, uncertainty over paid government holidays schemes for pensioners, as well as the end of the tourist season, would decimate much of Benidorm’s economy.

“I’m not saying they will all close, there will still be 10 or 15,” Mayor said, adding that Benidorm has 140 hotels registered in the city.

He said tourism would rebound only when a vaccine or effective treatment for COVID-19 is found.

Imserso

The Imserso programme is a government scheme that buys up hotel beds in Benidorm for pensioners across Spain.

According to HOSBEC, the scheme buys up around 6,000 beds from a total of 38,000 normally available in winter in Benidorm.

Spain’s department of Social Services has not yet said whether they will cancel the scheme – doubts of it going ahead are high, however, as pensioners are the most at-risk group for coronavirus.

Cancellations

One reader was also notified of the closure by her hotel in Benidorm after she emailed about a reservation from 10-17 October.

A reply from the well-known hotel reads as below:

More to follow ..