Benidorm Town Hall

In spite of good hotel occupancy over 2013, Antonio Mayor, President of HOSBEC - the hoteliers association cautioned that the industry must refrain from "slashing prices to fill rooms at any price", as has been occurring. With the increase in IVA and other utilities it is not unusual for them to be operating at almost zero profit after overheads and he warned that "we are far from a return to make the sector sustainable". A number of hotels close up over the Winter season, having to lay staff off in the process.

Last week fireworks at the Town Hall

As tourism is the number one industry in Benidorm I find it rather shocking that the Government have only allocated 450,000 euros for next year to promote the resort - an increase from last years 385,000 euros... which seems wholly inadequate. No occasion here is ever complete without fireworks and despite the economic downturn there certainly do not appear to be any cutbacks it that department!Another problem is getting residents to register on the padron. Benidorm receives 222.16 euros for every resident and if they have over 75,000 they would be entitled to an extra 2 million euros. Many are fearful of registering as they think it will have tax implications - that is totally incorrect. The Town Hall would receive the money it is entitled to, to provide the services required for the town.

Wishful thinking for many workers!

Wages here are shockingly low in comparison to the UK - Spain certainly doesn´t appear to follow the same minimum wage standards as there. One friend I know was paid 4.12 euro per hour for office admin work - needless to say she didn´t stay long. In a Madrid hospital, the laundry services have been taken over by a private company, owned by ONCE and workers had the option of staying on with a 46% cut in wages or leave! This equated to a mere 650 euros per month - many commented that it didn´t even cover their basic overheads such as mortgage, petrol and bills. However, strangely enough the queues at the lottery shops do not seem any shorter.

Unemployment benefits are not as generous here in Spain and only last for a year - it is therefore unsurprising why so many head to the UK - or as it is often dubbed, The Land of Plenty! The countdown is now on for the influx of Romanian and Bulgarian residents from 1st January...