Wanting is not always power. Despite the efforts made in recent hours, none of the four ski resorts in the Aragonese Pyrenees will open their doors to lovers of this sport during the Constitutional Bridge, a hard blow for a capital sector in the local economy.
The lack of sufficient snow and the variability of temperatures in recent days, without the necessary cold to consolidate the artificial snow produced by the canyons, have meant that its slopes are not in optimal conditions to receive skiers and have to remain closed to waiting for better days. The same situation is repeated in Teruel, where only one of its two stations (Valdelinares) will partially open these days.
After rushing until the last minute, the centers of Astún and Candanchú, in the Aragón valley, have ruled out giving the desired starting signal this Tuesday. “The snowfall of the last few hours has not been enough to have optimal thicknesses for the start of the season,” they said in a statement.
The centers assure that, “despite the continuous work that has been carried out on the slopes and the weather conditions that were occurring, it has not been possible for the stations to have favorable circumstances,” and they commit to continue working “intensely” to be able to welcome your audience as soon as possible.
“Let's see if the forecasts come true and it snows this weekend, because we are almost there,” Andrés Pita, deputy general director of Astún, said on regional television.
The decision of these two stations is made public one day after the Aramón company ruled out the day before opening its two stations in the Pyrenees -Formigal-Panticosa and Cerler- and the Javalambre station in Teruel for similar reasons.
In a statement, the snow group, half-participated by Ibercaja and the Government of Aragon, explained that the weather conditions and the continuous snowmaking work with artificial snow cannons "have not been enough to guarantee the opening," and that They will continue working to open “as soon as weather conditions allow us to.”
Even so, the group will partially commission the Valdelinares station, in Teruel. Here you can enjoy five lifts starting Wednesday, about 3.5 kilometers with thicknesses of 10 to 30 centimeters of snow, a surface that hopes to expand as conditions improve.
The delay in the start of the season is terrible news for a sector that represents around 7% of the regional GDP. In addition to not making cash at the stations, the non-opening directly affects the contracts of the staff of these winter centers, where the vast majority of employees work only during the season.
The closure also has direct consequences on other nearby businesses such as accommodation, hospitality and ski-related product stores, for which the Constitution Bridge usually represents a significant percentage of their annual income.
