- Title: Tourists opting for inland holidays to avoid crowded Spanish beaches and cities
- Date: 28th June 2020
- Summary: JIMERA DE LIBAR, SPAIN (JUNE 27, 2020) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF "VILLA SANDIA" (VILLAGE WATERMELON) CAMP SITE WITH CABINS IN THE SHAPE OF WATERMELONS AND MUSHROOMS VARIOUS OF TRAFFIC SIGNS FOR THE CAMP SITE VARIOUS OF CABINS CABIN INTERIOR TOURIST UNLOCKING CABIN DOOR, ENTERING AND LEAVING LUGGAGE ON BED VARIOUS OF TOURISTS/ CABINS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) DIRECTOR OF "VILLA SANDIA" (VILLAGE WATERMELON), CANDELA LUQUE, SAYING: "We are at the Ronda range of mountains, amongst three natural parks, the Grazalema mountain, Sierra de las Nieves and the park of Los Alcornocales: an amazing and privileged enclave. We are also very close to Gibraltar, to Costa del Sol (Malaga region coast) so this is an option now with the coronavirus issue. We have been benefited by tourism compared with the hotels. People are changing the trend to go to the beach and they are coming inland. We were fighting against falling numbers but now people and tourists want to come to rural areas because of the tranquility they can get in the countryside." WOMAN WALKING PAST MUSHROOM SHAPED CABINS TOURISTS SITTING OUTSIDE WATERMELON CABIN (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ARGENTINIAN RESIDENT OF MALAGA, FEDERICO ALES, SAYING: "I think that rural tourism is much calmer and this place even more so. Less people than on the beach where everyone is piled up. So I think this is calmer, it's my first time here and it's very good." VARIOUS OF TOURISTS AT CAMP SITE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) DIRECTOR OF "VILLA SANDIA" (VILLAGE WATERMELON), CANDELA LUQUE, SAYING: "Regarding the international impact, we have noticed much less foreign tourism to the area because the borders are closed. So the inland tourism is being strengthened. Before people travelled to Rome, Berlin or Paris but currently we are going back, they are opening other options and discovering inland tourism." VARIOUS OF TOURISTS WALKING OVER SUSPENSION BRIDGES IN MOUNTAINS RIVER POURING OVER ROCKS VARIOUS OF CABIN IN FOREST
- Embargoed: 12th July 2020 12:06
- Keywords: coronavirus in Spain cucumbers glam-style camping tourism watermelons
- Location: JIMERA DE LIBAR, SPAIN
- City: JIMERA DE LIBAR, SPAIN
- Country: Spain
- Topics: Health/Medicine
- Reuters ID: LVA001CKAAGJR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: AUDIO QUALITY AS INCOMING
A Spanish campsite owner is banking on tourists abandoning crowded beaches in favour of rural peace and quiet as the country's holiday industry struggles to recover from the coronavirus lockdown.
At the 'Villa Sandia' (Village Watermelon) site near the town of Jimera de Libar, visitors can stay in small cabins shaped like watermelons and musrooms in the tranquility of the Ronda Mountains near three national parks.
Site director Candela Luque said people were beginning to look to the uncrowded interior for their breaks rather than head for the cities and beach resorts.
Spanish holidaymakers were heading to the hills rather than going abroad to places like Rome, Berlin and Paris.
The COVID-19 pandemic hit Spain harder than most countries, with 28,324 deaths so far and a three-month lockdown that crippled a tourism sector that accounts for 12% of the economy and employs one in eight.
Though Spain has reopened its borders to European tourists, the summer season is only tentatively resuming.
(Production: Jon Nazca, Miguel Gutierrez) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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