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British holidaymakers caught up in travel chaos at UK airports have now touched down in Spain, only to be greeted by colder temperatures, rain and beaches decimated by storms.
Tourists hoping to relax in the sun after mayhem leaving home were facing more disappointment today after arriving to find Spain chillier than parts of Britain and their favourite stretches of sand washed away.
Midday temperatures on most of the Costa Blanca were due to reach just 12 degrees Celsius (53 degrees Fahrenheit), colder than London (55F) and just a touch warmer than Manchester.
The start of the day in the Costa del Sol meanwhile was marked by grey skies and drizzle, and it was raining in the Majorcan capital Palma with temperatures nudging just 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit) at 11am.
Storms over the past few days have left many beaches on the Costa Blanca and Costa del Sol, the most popular stretches of Spanish coastline with British holidaymakers, looking like they’ve been hit by a bomb.
British holidaymakers caught up in travel chaos at UK airports have now touched down in Spain, only to be greeted by colder temperatures, rain and beaches decimated by storms
Tourists hoping to relax in the sun after mayhem leaving home were facing more disappointment today after finding huge swathes of their favourite beaches washed away or covered in debris
Beaches on Spain’s Costa del Sol have suffered significant damage from storms. The head of the Costa del Sol tourist board has said it could put tourism recovery in ‘jeopardy’
Spanish each bar owners are openly admitting their Easter hopes have already been ruined following the fresh havoc wrought by a series of storms over recent weeks which had already left resorts with repair bills running into hundreds of thousands of euros
Costa tourist chiefs admitted today they were in a race against time to refill eroded beaches with dredged sand in time for Easter week when the weather is expected to be a mixed bag of sunshine some days and rain on others.
But many beach bar owners are openly admitting their Easter hopes have already been ruined following the fresh havoc wrought by a series of storms over recent weeks which had already left resorts with repair bills running into hundreds of thousands of euros.
Debris including upturned deck chairs and sun loungers by the shoreline and beach showers yanked out of their stands litter the beach in the upmarket Costa del Sol resort of Marbella.
Miguel Muncharaz, manager at iconic Marbella beach bar and restaurant Trocadero Playa, admitted: ‘This last storm has devastated this place. Only the structure is left.
‘It’s a disaster. There’s no way we’ll be able to get everything back to the way it was before Easter.’
British tourist Dave Prentice, who owns a holiday home in Villajoyosa near Benidorm where at least four beaches have been badly damaged by the force of the waves, said: ‘I’ve been coming here for years and this is the worst I have seen the coastline at this time of the year.
‘I was hoping to go back home with a tan but since I got here last week all I’ve seen is rain and more rain.’
This image shows huge waves whipped up by a storm decimating beachside cabins in Marbella
Storm damage is pictured on the beaches of Mijas today in Malaga
The head of the Costa del Sol Tourist board Francisco Salado has called for the Malaga coast to be declared a disaster zone because of the damage caused by recent strong winds and sea swells.
Tourism chiefs in the area are hoping to put the coronavirus pandemic behind them this year and see foreign holidaymakers returning in the sorts of numbers they were getting pre-Covid.
Mr Salado said: ‘The beaches are our biggest tourist attraction and we rely on them being in good condition.’
Estepona’s mayor Jose Maria Garcia Urbano said long-term measures to protect the coastline were needed,
‘Replacing the sand is a medicine whose effects last a few weeks and sometimes just a few days,’ he said in an open letter.
The bad weather greeting newly-arrived Brits today came after days of mayhem at UK airports which saw some passengers miss flights because of huge queues.
Tourism chiefs in the area are hoping to put the coronavirus pandemic behind them this year and see foreign holidaymakers returning in the sorts of numbers they were getting pre-Covid
The bad weather greeting newly-arrived Brits in Spain today came after days of mayhem at UK airports which saw some passengers miss flights because of huge queues
Travel chaos at Heathrow Terminal 2 as families try and get away for the Easter holidays Travel chaos at Heathrow Airport, London, UK – 06 Apr 2022
Manchester Airport boss Karen Smart resigned yesterday over the travel chaos, while more than 100 flights were cancelled across the UK today with huge queues forming at Birmingham, Manchester and Stansted airports from 4.10am as delays continued to derail Easter getaways.
British Airways axed at least 78 flights scheduled to and from Heathrow for Wednesday, while easyJet called off at least 30 at Gatwick.
The unprecedented bedlam is being blamed mostly on ‘staffing shortages and recruitment challenges’, and a sudden surge in passenger numbers – both caused by Covid and the curbs which have been in place for most of the past two years.
Over 1,140 flights were grounded at Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Birmingham in the week up to April 3 – with EasyJet and British Airways also cutting 60 and 98 flights respectively yesterday.
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