‘It’s full’ Costa del Sol packed with tourists as Spain’s holiday season takes off
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Spain is one of the UK’s most popular holiday destinations. Over 30 percent of Britons are planning to travel there this year, according to easyJet.
Dani, who works hiring out sun loungers on popular beach La Malagueta, told SUR: “It’s full. It seems like we are already in the summer season.”
One restaurant worker said they thought they would quickly run out of their 400 bread rolls.
The crowds demonstrate that Spain’s tourism industry is getting back to normal after a difficult few years.
Temperatures were high over the long holiday weekend, reaching 30 degrees in Malaga province.
The Costa del Sol region is heavily reliant on tourism and struggled with low visitor numbers during the pandemic.
Since the pandemic, Spain’s tourist areas have also struggled with shortages of essential goods due to a trucking strike.
Some hotels in Benidorm were forced to delay refurbishment works due to a lack of concrete.
Others struggled with a shortage of essential items such as sunflower oil due to the lengthy strike.
The Costa del Sol was also struck with bad weather which caused heavy damage to beaches in Estepona, Fuengirola and Marbella.
Many Britons are keen to return to Spain for a summer holiday since the majority of travel restrictions were lifted.
However, Spain has yet to relax its tough border entry restrictions for unvaccinated British tourists.
Unvaccinated Britons can’t travel to Spain unless they have a recent Covid recovery certificate.
Vaccinated Britons do not need to take a test or fill out a passenger locator form but will need a booster if their second jab was more than 270 days ago.
British children aged between 12-17 will need to have a negative PCR result to travel to Spain if they are unvaccinated.
Britons do not need to take a test or fill out a passenger locator form on their return to the UK.
Despite the lifting of restrictions, many Britons have faced chaos at the UK’s major airports this month.
Passengers dealt with heavy queues at Manchester and Heathrow airports over the Easter weekend.
British Airways has cancelled over one hundred flights scheduled for today and easyJet has cancelled around 70 flights per day.
Most of the issues are due to staff shortages in the travel industry which have been exacerbated by Covid.
Britons are advised to travel to the airport early to make sure they have time to clear security for their flight.
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