Benidorm’s bars and restaurants admit there have been days of ‘little activity’ in an unusually quiet summer – after videos appeared to show empty terraces and beaches.
The Spanish holiday resort, long famed for its vibrant nightlife, jam-packed shores, and 24-hour party scene, is facing a subdued peak season.
Bars and restaurants that are normally heaving with tourists have reported quieter stretches, while videos circulating on TikTok show shuttered pubs, deserted terraces, and rows of empty sun loungers.
Images taken earlier this month even capture the rare sight of empty café chairs in a town that has attracted British sunseekers for decades.
The slowdown comes as Spain grapples with a decline in visitor numbers for the first time since the pandemic, with years of anti-tourism protests said to be deterring regular holidaymakers.
One video of the seaside town is captioned: ‘If you’re in Benidorm right now, what do you think? Why do you think it’s so quiet? Why is nobody around? Even this bar here is fully shut down.’
Benidorm, long famed for its vibrant nightlife, jam-packed beaches, and 24 hour party scene, is facing an unusually subdued summer
Bars and restaurants that are normally heaving with tourists in peak season have reported days of ‘little activity’ while videos circulating on TikTok show empty terraces, shuttered pubs, and eerily quiet stretches of sand
The clip shows empty strips where the crowds would normally be spilling into the streets.
Another video laments: ‘We’re in the height of summer. Everywhere should be absolutely rammed, but it’s not. It’s absolutely dead.
‘This is one of the main strips in Benidorm and it should be absolutely rammed’.
The footage sparked a lively debate online.
Some agreed, blaming soaring rents and anti-tourism protests for keeping sunseekers away.
‘They told us not to come. What did they expect’, wrote one viewer, while another added: Spain stopped wanting tourists, hence they might have gone elsewhere.
A third commented: ‘It’s too expensive to go to Benidorm now. Be careful what you wish for, they didn’t want any tourists.’
But not everyone was convinced. Others insited the Costa Blanca hotspot is as lively as ever.
One tourist wrote: ‘I’m here now. It’s rammed – busiest I’ve seen Benidorm.’ Another agreed: ‘I’m just back today and it was rammed the whole of Benidorm was busy.’
Even Benidorm’s hospitality association, ABRECA, insists the overall picture remains positive.
Manager, Irene Carreño, said July and August saw a 5% rise in turnover compared to last year, attributing the increase to higher spending by international visitors and higher menu prices.
‘There were days in July with little activity, unusual days compared to what we’re used to,’ said ABRECA’s manager, Carreño admitted.
Restaurants, bars, and even beaches in Benidorm have been reported as unusually quiet in some areas, while years of anti-tourist demonstrations are said to be deterring regular holidaymakers. Pictured: Protesters in Las Palmas, the capital of Gran Canaria in May
One video of the seaside town is captioned: ‘If you’re in Benidorm right now, what do you think? Why do you think it’s so quiet? Why is nobody around? Even this bar here is fully shut down’
The clip shows deserted strips where the crowds would normally be spilling into the streets
Footage shared on TikTok by a holidaymaker has shown eerily deserted streets and shuttered bars in what should be peak party season
Travel operators, meanwhile, are keen to reassure British sunseekers.
Thomas Cook, now an online travel agent, suggests August as the perfect time for beach enthusiasts.
‘The average temperature is a lovely 25°C and has been known to reach around 30°C,’ they advise, adding that the sea is at its warmest during this period.
While the drop in tourism numbers in Spain has left many concerned, to others it is welcome news.
Earlier this month gleeful Spanish locals were rejoicing after seeing a drop in the number of Costa Blanca holidaymakers following years of angry anti-tourism demonstrations.
Majorca has also seen a sharp decline in tourist numbers, with officials claiming that a relentless campaign of anti-tourist protests is ‘scaring away visitors’ as locals say some resorts are now ‘completely dead’.
In Costa Blanca, the holiday rental sector saw a drop of 2.2% in tourist numbers during the first half of the year – a trend that has accelerated since March, when numbers hit a low of 57%, according to local paper Sur In English.
Costa Blanca isn’t the only Spanish holiday hotspot experiencing a drop in visitors this year – Majorca has also seen a sharp decline in tourist numbers. Pictured: Jumping Jacks bar at the start of August
This is the same bar pictured last year, before the decline in tourist numbers
While the downturn has sparked concern among some local businesses, others see it as a welcome break after years of over tourism and have taken to social media to share their relief.
One person wrote: ‘The news is painted as bad but the reality is that it’s good. Tourism is fine but the tourist mass coming to Malaga was more than the city could handle. I’d rather take care of 10 tourists well than 100 bad.’
Another added: ‘Very good news, let’s see if we stop depending on tourism and the business fabric returns to Spain.
‘Tourism should be regulated somehow and see if the real estate bubble explodes because of that and people here can buy a house again like it used to be.’
A third said: ‘It seems good to me, that it goes down, even if it negative impact on commerce (and I feel sorry for those freelancers) but if we settle in that niche we will never be able to improve the rent of the Malagasy, added to that the price of the property would continue to rise.
‘We don’t want displaced Malagasy people, we want Malagasy people thriving. Tourism is not bad, but Malaga needs to grow according to its situation, and what was happening is that we were above what we could stand.
The conflicting reports come as Spain grapples with declining visitor numbers for the first time since the Covid19 pandemic. Pictured: An empty bar in Benidorm at the beginning of August
An image taken of the same bar sharply contrasts with scenes in March this year (pictured) when the same terrace was rammed with drinkers
Images from earlier this month in show empty chairs outside bars and space on beaches in Benidorm – rare for this time of year when they are usually rammed with tourists
‘Let’s see if this helps entrepreneurs to rethink if the only business that thrives in Malaga is the quaternary sector… We want more industry, which can really make Malagasy people increase their capital!!!’
The decline in tourist numbers is thought to be caused by a combination of rising prices, overtourism concerns, and a shift in travel preferences.
It comes as a slump in spending in Majorca this summer has been blamed on the wave of anti-tourism protests that have gripped Spain.
With British holidaymakers seemingly among foreigners turning their backs on the island, its tourism industry is in panic mode as officials overseeing the nightlife sector and tour companies warn that guests no longer feel ‘welcomed’.
The restaurant association president, Juanmi Ferrer, gave a stark warning that the messaging of the protests is ‘scaring visitors away’.
Additionally, Miguel Pérez-Marsá, head of the nightlife association, told Majorca Daily Bulletin: ‘The tourists we’re interested in are being driven away; they don’t feel welcome and are going to other destinations.’
Local media reports that the situation has become so dire that some managers have given staff holidays in the middle of July, which is often the height of the summer rush.
Protestors squirted water guns at tourists eating in popular spots in the city
Video showed protestors gathering in Las Ramblas, a hotspot for holidaymakers
But it’s not just bars, restaurants, and nightlife venues feeling the slump.
Tour guides are seeing the same downward trend. Pedro Oliver, president of the College of Tour Guides, said: ‘The anti-tourism messages are resonating.’
He revealed excursion sales have dropped by 20 per cent this summer, with Valldemossa, Palma and Port Soller among the worst-hit areas as British, German, and Italian tourists have all been put off.
‘If you generate negative news, which has repercussions in other countries, tourists opt for other destinations when choosing their holidays,’ he said. ‘We are sending the message that we don’t want tourists and that everything is too crowded.’
Excursion operator Proguies Turístics normally offers around 30 excursions per cruise. That number is now down to just 12 to 14.
Its president, Biel Rosales, warned: ‘Tourismphobia and the idea that tourists are not welcome are hurting us greatly.’ He added that high prices and traffic jams are also turning tourists away.
Pictured: Empty chairs outside a restaurant in Majorca in July
Majorca has also seen a sharp decline in tourist numbers, with officials claiming that a relentless campaign of anti-tourist protests is ‘scaring away visitors’ as locals say some resorts are now ‘completely dead’. Pictured: An image taken in July shows an empty restaurant in Majorca
Transport bosses are also worried. Rafel Roig, president of the transport federation, said: ‘You can’t send out these messages because people won’t go where they’re not wanted.’
Coach firms and taxi drivers have both seen a decline in customers.
Biel Moragues, from one of the island’s taxi associations, said: ‘British tourists are the most upset by the protests and have changed their holiday destination.’
Locals now say tourism on the island is completely different from years gone by.
It comes after anti-tourism activists have wreaked havoc across Spain this summer.
Thousands of protestors marched through central Barcelona last month, waving placards and squirting holidaymakers with water guns in the latest expression of anger at perceived overtourism in Spain.
Under the slogan ‘Enough! Let’s put limits on tourism’, some 2,800 people – according to police – marched along a waterfront district of Barcelona to demand a new economic model that would reduce the millions of tourists that visit every year.
Protesters carried signs reading ‘Barcelona is not for sale,’ and, ‘Tourists go home,’ before some used water guns on tourists eating outdoors at restaurants in popular tourist hotspots.
Chants of ‘Tourists out of our neighbourhood’ rang out as some stopped in front of the entrances to hotels.
Barcelona’s rising cost of housing, up 68 percent in the past decade, is one of the main issues for the movement, along with the effects of tourism on local commerce and working conditions in the city of 1.6 million inhabitants.
Rents rose by 18% in June from a year earlier in tourist cities such as Barcelona and Madrid, according to the property website Idealista.
For years, the city has worn anti-tourist graffiti with messages such as ‘tourists go home’ aimed at visitors some blame for the rising prices and shaping of the economy around tourists.
The Barcelona protests came after similar demonstrations in tourist hotspots such as Malaga, Palma de Mallorca and the Canary Islands.
