For many Spaniards, the second wave of the coronavirus has already begun. The country is currently registering most of the new infections in Europe. The impact of travel restrictions and the consequences for the economy are large.
On the promenade of Benidorm, the hotels around the beach are teeming with the lukewarm Mediterranean Sea. You’ll find beer for the British, croquettes for the Dutch and church services for Scandinavians, as Spanish tourism has been pretty much invented here.
A boy plays a tepid evergreens in front of a lukewarm room.
His hearing consists of local tourists. They slowly clap along with the songs. Local, i.e. Spanish. Because British, Scandinavians or Belgians don’t really come to Benidorm anymore, because of the travel advices in their countries.
Code orange for Spain
Last week the Netherlands also put the whole of Spain on code orange because of the new corona infections. This means that unnecessary travel is not recommended. Meanwhile, tourism in Benidorm has plummeted by fifty percent. Further down the country, foreign tourism collapsed by 85 percent.
It makes Param Sran (28) desperate, because he doesn’t know how long the Indian restaurant where he works will remain open. “If there is a new lockdown, it will be impossible for many people to survive,” says Param in front of the restaurant. No customer came today.
“If we go into another prolonged lockdown, I doubt that the Spanish economy will hold up,” says economist José Emilio Boscà. “Even now, companies are making it thanks to the support and loans they are getting. Spain has many small businesses. They’re not going to survive.” The two girls who make their ABBA act bow to the skinny audience. Then they dedicate themselves to ‘Waterloo’.