BRIT holidaymakers have been packing out hotels and apartments in Benidorm as they enjoy the first normal Easter break since Covid.

An “avalanche of tourists” have descended on Spain’s popular holiday destination, packing out local hotspots in numbers not seen since 2019 as the country starts to revive after the coronavirus restrictions.

"After two years in which the restrictions on mobility due to Covid-19 made Holy Week pass without pain or glory, Benidorm has undoubtedly returned in 2022 to be the Benidorm of always. The avalanche of tourists arriving from all parts of Spain and other European countries to spend these holidays has filled hotels, tourist apartments and second homes, reaching the records of years prior to the pandemic," said a report in the Spanish press.

"Neither the rain on Wednesday nor the strong gusts of wind recorded on Thursday have stopped the tourists who wanted to visit Benidorm and have not hesitated to go out en masse to enjoy the beaches and promenades, as well as the more commercial streets."

The "avalanche" has led many hotels to put up their "sold out" signs whilst others are recording occupancy levels of more than 90 per cent.

The hotel association, Hosbec had already voiced optimism of last-minute bookings and this has materialised.

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The high occupancy is reflected in tourist apartments with Aptur reporting they are 90 per cent full.

The good figures will also benefit the whole of the Costa Blanca. In this case, the average occupancy will be around 80 per cent, says Hosbec.

In just two days, more than 100,000 cars with tourists, mainly nationals, arrived to spend the Easter holidays in Benidorm.

Numbers at the airport, train station and buses have also soared.

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Councillor for Mobility, José Ramón González de Zárate said: "When there were no restrictions in 2020 and 2021, the people who travelled to Benidorm mostly came by car for fear of going by bus or collective transport and being able to get infected, but the data tells us that this fear already seems to be overcome."

Abreca, the Association of Bars, Restaurants and Cafeterias, said the bumper Easter will help to wipe away some of the losses run up during the coronavirus crisis.

'BACK TO NORMAL'

Benidorm's famous beaches are also "back to normal" for Easter for the first time in two years.

The town's mayor, Toni Pérez said: "After two years of the pandemic, this will be the first Holy Week in which there will be no restrictions on the use of the sand."

At one stage during the Covid crisis, beaches in Spain had to close and when allowed to reopen, they were subject to strict social distancing measures, with plots of sand for each group of sunbathers, tight controls over access points, time restrictions and even a pre-booking system which often saw long queues on seafronts.

Benidorm was one of the Spanish resorts highly praised for the way it dealt with the controls.

BEACHES IN 'OPTIMAL STATE'

Toni Pérez said the council had worked constantly throughout the year to make sure the beaches were in "an optimal state" for users for Easter which marks the beginning of the high season. To this end, repair and adaptation work has been carried out on different elements, as well as adjusting the lifeguard and cleaning device.

Sun beds are also making a welcome return, with the mayor specifying "the maximum on the beach will be 3,500 per day".

The number of rescue and lifeguard is also being increased with five on Levante beach, six on Poniente beach and one on Mal Pas beach.

They will be on duty from 10am until 6pm and there will be two ambulances with personnel.

The cleaning service has also been reinforced so that at Easter there will be a total of 21 operators rather than the usual 13.

One regulation which will remain is the " six metres" from the shore requirement. This means that sunbathers can't sit within this line, leaving the shoreline space for people who want to walk along the beaches. 

Spain has already lifted the requirement for beach users to wear masks as they are no longer required outside.

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The indoor rule is to be lifted from April 20.

Benidorm's mayor also confirmed that the beaches were not badly affected by the recent storms as they are more protected than others.

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