I decided to take the De Rosa out for a flat bike ride along the coastal route this morning. Vilajoiosa to Albir and back through the slightly hilly Terra Mitica route. The route took me through Benidorm on the day after the British government told Brits not to come to Spain. So it was a nice opportunity to see the Brits going away again.
Not much else to add is there? Oh yes. Goodbye! Goodbye!! Goodbye!!!
Equus Asinus 
Sounds like a good long jaunt out on the bicycle. Thank goodness you didn’t end up like Laurel and Hardy, with a flat tyre!
LikeLike
Indeed thank goodness… It was only when I was getting my phone out of my cycling jersey pockets to take the selfie-video I realized I had left the pocket-tyre-pump at home. Luckily, punctures in Spain are rare. Back in the lanes of Kent, Canterbury Cycle Club used to have to stop at least once on every Sunday ride because someone had punctured. It was usually due to the small shards of flint that get washed into roads by the rain.
LikeLike
Good for you, Gareth. Nice and quiet with no new Brits arriving – mind you, I do feel very sorry for all the bars, restaurants and hotels that will not be able to survive. But Benidorm will be beautiful without the Brits!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, Frank, the economic issue is considerable. This morning, my estimate was that the majority of present holidaymakers are Spanish. (Hotel occupancy goes up to 70% at the weekends of course.) The tourist economy has to be remodelled and re-sized. It is only a few weeks since the tourism authorities were telling us they could not see any full-scale reopening till Easter 2021. So stay with that plan please and don’t rush us all into another deadly outbreak.
Vila hospital was overwhelmed in April, with health workers on ventilators. But suddenly it seemed such a good idea to be making a profit from selling plastic inflatable beach crocodiles to Brits coming from towns where mask-wearing only became compulsory two days ago! Thank God they will all be disappearing soon!
LikeLike
The curious thing about Benidorm recently is the way it has become more Spanish during this summer. I don’t go there very often, and rarely to the British end (at what used to be the old tuna-fishery quarter of Rincon de Loix). And never to the beach. The only time I ever stood on Benidorm beach was at midnight about five years ago to get a photo of the bay. Yesterday, cycling through the place, I was aware of how many Spanish have reoccupied Benidorm this summer. And I heard distinctly MADRID accents. It is no good the local tourism authority pleading that the local area has not got many Covid-19 cases – so should be exempt the UK quarantine – when Madrileños are heavily present in the resort, coming from one of the most badly affected areas in the pandemic.
LikeLike
We are both in our mid seventies, so in the “vulnerable” group and are being very cautious – we have not even been to a bar in the village since March! We have friends from Madrid arriving tomorrow and they will be staying in an appartment in Albir for three weeks. They have had Covid tests a week ago and another yesterday. All clear but we are not planning on seeing them except for a socially distanced coffee / beer at an open air bar. We drove through Benidorm yesterday – did not get out of the car! – and were surprised to see many people not wearing masks and also not social distancing. Could not tell their nationality but going by their attire (or lack of it) and some with “body art,” we made an assumption! So pleased that Brits will have to quarantine for 14 days when arriving back from Spain – that will help to keep the numbers down!.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not just keeping the numbers down: the British area of Benidorm is dead. Totally demolished.
LikeLike