What a fabulous day it has been today – no chance of a white Christmas here with a vivid blue sky, sunshine and Spring like temperatures. The Levante promenade was awash with people at lunchtime, many taking a stroll, with a spattering of Santa hats whilst others just enjoyed a drink and were people watching.

Those here on holiday probably couldn´t believe their luck how mild the weather is… we usually are blessed with good weather for Christmas and they were certainly taking advantage, playing on the beach with some even taking a dip in the sea.

The first fortnight of December has proved to be the quietest to date this year, with figures released by Hosbec the hotelier’s association showing just a 60.7% occupancy rate compared to 67.1% in the last pre-covid “normal” year of 2019.

Historically it is a quiet time for the Costa Blanca resort, but the somewhat disappointing figures have been put down to a number of factors which include the war in Ukraine, inflation, energy crisis and problems in the UK, which are all affecting bookings.

Of those figures, 58.1% were domestic Spanish visitors and 34.1% UK passport holders followed by Belgians at 3.8%, Dutch at 2.7% and Irish at 1%. Estimates for the second half of the month are currently at 59.3%, with last minute bookings hopefully pushing that figure over the 60% mark.

Tomorrow is a normal working day here in Benidorm but hope you all enjoy a further 2 days of Bank Holiday over in the UK … peace and goodwill to you all and hope to see you back here at some point in 2023.