The new delay in high-speed rail jeopardizes hotel bookings for Easter Week

First it was February 2, then the 7th of that month, and later the reinstatement of the AVE line connecting Málaga with Madrid was scheduled for March 1. However, none of these deadlines have been met. Now, Adif announces that the Costa del Sol will regain the high-speed line, without an hour-long bus ride to Antequera, on March 23, the same week that Holy Week begins and when the first vacations of the year are already planned. The Association of Hotel Businessmen of the Costa del Sol (Aehcos) is already warning that they fear a leakage of travelers to other Mediterranean destinations due to the AVE blockade, and that this situation jeopardizes the bookings of mainly Spanish travelers, with an impact on international bookings for Holy Week.

The announcement of the new delay in the high-speed rail connection has fallen like a cold shower on the Malaga tourism sector. If the situation was already considered more than worrying when the reinstatement on March 1 was discussed, with a 20% decrease in bookings, the new AVE opening deadline implies losses that will bill the main industry of the province. Specifically, Aehcos now estimates the direct impact on hotel billing at 300 million euros, which also suffer from the storms and the train of depressions. The drop in bookings has already reached up to 30% and the alarm spreads due to the direct impact on national tourism, which is key during Holy Week. "This situation is acting as a disincentive to demand, in a season where national tourism plays a prominent stabilizing role in the tourist flow both in the capital of Malaga and along the coast and inland of the province," they specify.

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In this regard, José Luque, president of Aehcos, reports that "falls of 20% in demand are already being reported and in some cases up to 30%, affecting tourist accommodation establishments, mainly from tourism segments such as corporate, congress activities, large events, and urban or short-break tourism." Moreover, he warns about the annual tally bill. "We contemplated an impact for the first quarter of 2026 of 1.750 billion euros (21% of the annual sector impact), of which we estimate losses of about 255 million euros for national tourism and about 45 million euros from international tourism," he points out.

Luque expresses his concern about further delays and points out that "the situation with this announcement of not restoring high speed to the normality as it was occurring before last January 18, and with prospects of restoration from March 23, is also not a guarantee, as we even fear that there could be announcements of further delays, as has been happening over the last few weeks." Furthermore, he notes that "it is causing a loss of confidence in this means of transport, which was usually considered one of the priority means to travel with higher quality and reliability."

Professionals in the sector agree that the initial concern has turned into fear of losing a significant part of the Holy Week business. They note that, above all, families choose the destination of these first vacations long before the new Adif deadline, increasing the fear that some of these clients have already opted to discard enjoying Holy Week on the Costa del Sol this year.

From the executive committee of Aehcos, they add that the new scenario will also impact employment. "This delay in the restoration of high speed will progressively increase potential losses of bookings and also, what we consider even more serious, is the maintenance of employment or the decrease in usual hiring for this season in our sector." They add that they are aware that "other Mediterranean destinations are taking advantage of this precariousness, so we beg the competent administrations to immediately restore the rail connections as they were occurring prior to the Adamuz accident."