In Spain’s Mass Tourism Mecca, U.K. Quarantine Means Bummer Summer
Benidorm was designed for wall-to-wall tourists. Covid makes that impossible.
Levante Beach in Benidorm.
Photographer: Jose Jordan/AFP/Getty Images
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When Spain locked down to slow the coronavirus in March, about 25,000 British tourists were enjoying the beaches and bars of the Costa Blanca resort of Benidorm. Local officials quickly ordered hotels to shut their doors, and as the visitors packed their bags and flocked to the airport, the town’s tourism industry—its lifeblood—went into hibernation along with the rest of the country.