Shorter stays and less joy when spending in the Pyrenees these days. While waiting for the occupancy data for August, the tourist associations agree that it is a good summer, although not comparable to the last two when, after the pandemic and due to fear of possible restrictions on flights and cruises, mountain establishments They filled up well in advance and even had a waiting list.
The Vall de Boí Tourist Office, in Barruera, has received 3,355 visitors between August 1 and 21, a similar figure to last year but well below the 4,962 tourists out of 2,021. His statistics reflect that vacations are getting shorter. Most stays are three or four days.
El Forn de Llesp is a small wood-fired bread oven at the foot of the road with the walls full of newspaper clippings and postcards and offering homemade meals. Baker and journalist, the owner, Núria Castells, agrees with the tourist office that there are fewer people than other years and points out that tourists spend less. “I have had clients who spend a day in Alta Ribagorça and then go to the Aragonese Pyrenees, the tendency is not to stay alone in one place”, says Núria. "The season is also saved by second homes, their owners stay longer and leave money in shops and restaurants," she adds.
For his part, the vice president of the Tourist Board of the Lleida Provincial Council, Juan Antonio Serrano is convinced that it is a “very good” summer. "Now - he adds - if we compare it with the two best in history it is inferior, people are on cruise ships and flying abroad, it is normal". Regarding spending, Serrano believes that the benefits in the sector will be slightly lower because there will be fewer people and because costs have increased, so even if the customer spends the same, there is less left in the cash register.
The president of the Lleida Hospitality Federation, Josep Castellarnau, who is also the owner of the restaurant and hotel Castellarnau in Escaló, is convinced that the month of July has been very good for the sector. "And in August, the first two weeks we have had an occupancy rate of over 85%, but we do see that the client consumes less, some families do not eat the two restaurant meals," he notes.
The forecast for rural tourism is to close the month also with an occupancy rate of 85%. "You can see that everything is going slower than in recent years," acknowledges the president of the Federation of Cases Rurals de Lleida, Nùria Ferrando. “Other years the reserves came in very quickly and this year they didn't,” she says. Her country house is in Estac, near Sort. As in other establishments, stays have been reduced compared to the previous two years. "Before, the houses were rented for weeks and now for fewer days, but if you ask me for three days, you are also welcome," says Ferrando.
“I think – he remarks – that the rise in mortgages and in the shopping basket has reduced the availability to spend on vacations. She works in her sister's cheese factory in Surp, “we sell well, but less than in other years, it is indicative of tourism in the territory. People are not very lively, the cost of accommodation has to be made, but other expenses are saved, ”she points out.
Although the hotel industry feels that there are fewer people, the Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park, one of the most visited spaces in the Pyrenees, has received more visits this summer than last. In July it registered 45,870 visits, a figure slightly higher than the 45,624 in July last year and slightly lower than in 2021, when the recent pandemic made many families opt for local tourism and 46,336 people came to the park.
The head of the park's public use unit, Xavi Llimiñana, assures that although there is a perception that there are fewer people, the same people are arriving in Aigüestortes: “We had a great boom in 2021 after the pandemic, which caused quite a few problems of access and saturation in car parks, now there is no feeling of collapse”.
