Hotels on the Costa del Sol estimate losses at 300 million due to the rail disconnection

The hotel sector is calculating the impact of the suspension of the railway connection with Madrid since last January 18, estimating losses at around 300 million euros caused by the interruption of the high-speed train (AVE) service to the hotels in the province of Málaga. This was recently reported by the Association of Hotel Business Owners of the Costa del Sol (Aehcos), which notes a 20% drop in bookings at the start of the year. This figure increases to 30% across Andalusia, which relies more heavily on the national market than the destination of Málaga. The association speaks of a "serious situation on the coast" and a "strong economic impact in the province" not only due to the decrease in bookings but also due to a "growing deterioration in demand." Consequently, they are calling for urgent measures to restore connectivity "and protect the competitiveness of the destination," as agreed upon in the recent permanent commission of the Costa del Sol Tourism Forum, which expresses utmost concern about the delay in resuming high-speed service between Madrid and Andalusia following the Adamuz accident.

In this meeting, they detailed that the slowdown in tourism demand in the first quarter of the year and up to the first ten days of April is causing a drop in bookings of between 15% and 20%, which translates to more than 300 million euros in losses in tourist accommodation demand in the province of Málaga. They specify that in Málaga city the impact exceeds 20%, while in the inland areas, the decrease in bookings ranges between 15% and 20%, and on the coast, it is below 15%.

José Luque, president of Aehcos, warns that the months of January, February, and March account for 21% of the total annual impact of the tourist accommodation sector and adds that business forecasts for the first quarter of 2026 were estimated at about 1.75 billion euros at the end of last December. "However, considering the slowdown in demand for the first three months of the year and until Easter, current forecasts show a decrease of between 15% and 20%. Losses in the national market would be around 255 million euros (80%) to which should be added about 45 million euros from international tourism," he points out.

They also warn that "the suspension of more than 31,000 daily train seats on the Madrid–Andalusia corridor, which today resumes operations between Seville and Madrid and in a few days from Málaga, but with the route between the Costa del Sol and Antequera by bus, the increase in travel time from two and a half hours to more than six by road and more than five hours with intermodality, and the lack of certainty about the reopening are reducing the competitiveness of the destination and particularly hindering short getaways, urban tourism, and the congress segment." Circumstances that have caused the pace of incoming bookings to also show a slowdown across Andalusia close to 30% in the first months of the year.

They also warn of the impact of the storms. "The rainfall in recent weeks has caused a drop in tourist satisfaction and damage to various hotel establishments, especially in Ronda and the Guadalhorce Valley, with an initial estimate of one million euros in losses, in addition to the deterioration of trails and accesses linked to active tourism," they detail.