It appears that different parts of Spain are locked in a domestic tourism battle with the great Spanish holiday getaway this weekend. Spanish transport companies are preparing their services and capacity to cope with the large number of people travelling this summer and to meet the increase in traffic expected from today, Thursday, to Sunday, coinciding with the start of the holidays for a large part of the population.
The Directorate General of Traffic (DGT) will launch its special operation for 1 August at 3 p.m. on Thursday, with 6.9 million road journeys expected until midnight on Sunday. As a result, increased traffic is expected on roads throughout the country over the next few days, especially from large urban centres to the coast. Added to this are the return journeys of those ending their holidays and the usual weekend travel.
In the meantime, the president of Cantabria in northern Spain, María José Sáenz de Buruaga, has denied that there is ‘tourist overcrowding’ in the region due to the fact that there are ‘40 days a year of high occupancy or full occupancy’. She did admit, however, that the region ‘is in vogue’ and is experiencing ‘a splendid and excellent moment’ for the sector, which is ‘breaking all records’ and generating a ‘very positive impact’ on the community’s economy, which translates into wealth, job creation and opportunities, and well-being, she said.
The head of the regional government made these comments in response to questions from journalists, to whom she indicated that it is not possible to convey a ‘distorted image’ of Cantabria and a ‘reality that is not’: ‘We are not the Ibiza of the North, let alone Magaluf,’ she said, referring to statements made in recent days, coinciding with a mass gathering of young people for a botellón (street drinking party) on the beach at El Puntal, in Somo near Santander.
Buruaga also considers it ‘gravely irresponsible to encourage tourismophobia’, as she believes certain groups and political forces are doing. ‘And even more so,’ she added, ‘to try to demonise a productive sector that is one of the main industries driving this country and this region.’
‘With this government, they can’t count on that,’ she warned, after highlighting that tourism generates almost 12% of GDP and accounts for nearly 10% of Social Security registrations. The regional president added that her government is ‘very clear’ about the region’s economic, territorial, energy and tourism development model, which ‘is based on sustainability and quality, on added value’.
‘Our commitment and our tourism strategy involve diversifying the offer, deseasonalising, internationalising and decentralising across the territory, in order to distribute the benefits that tourism brings to the economy and society’ of Cantabria, she specified. Finally, she indicated that ‘it is not incompatible’ and ‘there is no need to choose between one or the other, as they are complementary, two sides of the same coin,’ she said, calling for the protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage ‘based on respect and balance, and not on ideological fundamentalism.’