30 Sep, 2019 @ 18:13
1 min read

At least 500 hotels to shutdown imminently in Spain after Thomas Cook collapse as tourism boss begs Ryanair to pick up slack in winter sun flights

AT least 500 hotels are facing immediate closure due to the collapse of British travel giant Thomas Cook. 

That’s the stark warning made by the head of the Spanish hotel federation Juan Molas today.

“There are 500 hotels which are going to close immediately due to the collapse of Thomas Cook and the situation could get worse if the government doesn’t take immediate actions,” Molas told Cinco Dias.

He added that the unpaid bills paid to Spanish businesses would be more than the current €200 million estimate.

“It will be much more,” Molas warned, “The amount for just eight chains is close to €100 million.”

At least 100 hotels were exclusively dependent on Thomas Cook, he added, while the rest counted on the firm for between 30% and 70% of their clients.

A hotel in Fuerteventura had just spent €20 million on renovations and is the second largest on the Canary Islands.

However it will now have 700 empty rooms from October 7 and 200 employees it has no choice but to sack.

The Balearics and Canaries are the worst hit regions, with around 40% of hotels affected.

An emergency plan by the industry will be presented to Tourism Minister Reyes Maroto at the next Spanish tourism board meeting on October 7.

It comes as fears grow for the sector on the Canary Islands, a hugely popular winter destination for Brits and northern Europeans.

“The busy season is starting and Thomas Cook had 30% of air capacity,” Molas said.

He has asked the government to contact Ryanair and urge it reconsiders plans to close four of its bases in the country, three of which were in the Canaries.

Laurence Dollimore

Laurence Dollimore is a Spanish-speaking, NCTJ-trained journalist with almost a decade’s worth of experience.
The London native has a BA in International Relations from the University of Leeds and and an MA in the same subject from Queen Mary University London.
He earned his gold star diploma in multimedia journalism at the prestigious News Associates in London in 2016, before immediately joining the Olive Press at their offices on the Costa del Sol.
After a five-year stint, Laurence returned to the UK to work as a senior reporter at the Mail Online, where he remained for two years before coming back to the Olive Press as Digital Editor in 2023.
He continues to work for the biggest newspapers in the UK, who hire him to investigate and report on stories in Spain.
These include the Daily Mail, Telegraph, Mail Online, Mail on Sunday and The Sun and Sun Online.
He has broken world exclusives on everything from the Madeleine McCann case to the anti-tourism movement in Tenerife.

GOT A STORY? Contact newsdesk@theolivepress.es or call +34 951 273 575 Twitter: @olivepress

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Previous Story

Owners of meat company behind deadly listeria outbreak distributed 110,000 kilos of product AFTER becoming aware of killer bacteria in DECEMBER

Screenshot 2019 09 30 At 7 56 49 Pm
Next Story

‘It was like a big family’ – British tourist flying from Mallorca after Thomas Cook collapse says passengers started a collection for cabin crew

Latest from Business & Finance

Go toTop

More From The Olive Press