The economic crisis is taking its toll on holiday rentals in the Valencian Region, the Spanish daily ‘Levante’ reports. July and August occupancy rates of rental apartments on the Valencian coast, which includes the Costa Blanca, have fallen from 100% last year to as low as 50% in some cases this year.
The article also reports that holiday home sales, hotel bookings and package holiday sales have also fallen substantially, along with holiday rentals.
The real estate agents Eurosol, in Perelló, Sueca, told ‘Levante’ they have only managed to sell 2 apartments on the coast this year, and that holiday rental enquiries have fallen substantially.
With 50% of all holiday rental apartments on the Valencian coast still in search of bookings at the start of July, the number of ‘for rent’ and ‘for sale’ signs on properties along the coast is multiplying.
Industry sources told ‘Levante’ that “it is increasingly difficult to rent out homes because people don’t have money and banks aren’t helping.”
People are still going on holiday, but looking for ways to reduce costs, said Vincente Blasco, president of the Valencian Region’s association of travel agents, who also argues that holiday travel has become a “basic necessity”.
