Spain is bracing itself for another record summer of tourism, but this year is set to stretch resources to breaking point in many communities, especially in the Balearic Islands, where hoteliers report bookings for July and August have reached capacity. Nerja, a charming historic fishing in Axarquia is nervously anticipating the first wave of holidaymakers, having just been named Spain’s best seaside resort. If you haven’t bought a holiday home in Marbella or Mallorca yet, you may have to start building up a nest egg to buy one, for the trend to holiday in Spain is growing, growing, and growing.
And while the international jet set still prefers to spend their summer holidays in Marbella at the Costa del Sol, where palatial villas line the golden beaches, slightly less affluent families have voted overwhelmingly in favour of Nerja in a survey involving 16,000 voters. Nearly one third of all votes, 5,173 to be precise, chose the little jewel in Axarquia, when international tourism website Hotel Info invited site users to select their favourite from among 27 finalists.
Other seaside towns competing in the survey were Altea, Benicarlo, Cudillero, Mojacar, Ribadeo, Rota, Tossa de Maro and San Javier. Nerja, with its gorgeous beaches, 40,000-year-old caves, picturesque Old Town with its narrow streets and sleepy plazas, is also a favourite with expats buying permanent homes in Spain. Political and economic problems in rival destinations Egypt, Morocco, Turkey and Tunisia, and fears over further terror attacks, have prompted millions of tourists to switch to other destinations such as Spain.
To popular for its own good?
But there is a high price to pay for such popularity, as the Balearics are finding out, Nerja is about to discover and as the Malaga Province with Marbella as its jewel in the crown has known since the 1950s.
Overcrowded beaches, traffic jams and unclean water conditions and litter-strewn streets is what may await holidaymakers this year, as communities struggle to cope with the huge numbers of visitors expected to arrive in July and August.
Gerard Hau, a spokesman for the Grup Balear d’Ornitologia Defensa de la Naturalesa (GOB) in the Balearics has already voiced what many environmental groups are worried about: “This will be a crazy year,” Mr Hau said.
Many historic cities in Spain do not have the infrastructure to cope with such enormous numbers. Mallorca is booked out, since Palma is one of Europe’s most popular historic city destinations, with Malaga on its heels as the new cultural Mecca in Southern Spain.
Overbooked hotels, stressful scenes at car rental and hotel reception desks and problems with sewage and water networks will be part and parcel of a holiday in Spain for many tourists this year.
In popular Torremolinos near Malaga, the Town Hall is frantically building links with local businesses to ensure that four major events planned for this summer, such as the Gay Pride LGBT2 in June and the Wonder Beach event in July will run smoothly – and not run out of money before they’ve even started to build the DJs’ stages.
Marbella at the Costa del Sol generally attracts a different clientele as Torremolinos, but the major cultural events staged in the town every year are also attracting ever-increasing numbers of holidaymakers who might have gone on a Nile cruise in previous years or spend their time discovering ancient Fez in Morocco. Now they are flocking to Puerto Banus, one of the world’s most stylish marinas, where super yachts line the jetty and designer shops invite holidaymakers to spend some “serious money”.
Residential tourists with a holiday home in Marbella or the City of Malaga can at least look forward to some peace and quiet on their sun terraces or in their private gardens. Those staying in overcrowded hotels in Mallorca or Ibiza, however, will probably wish they’d chosen somewhere a little less popular for their summer vacation this year.