The president of the Alicante Provincial Council and the Provincial Tourist Board, Carlos Mazón, has met with the Spanish ambassador in London, José Pascual Marco. The main discussion was collaborative efforts to prolong the permitted length of stay of the British in the Valencian Community beyond the three months currently permitted due to Brexit.
Mazón, who travelled to London to participate in the World Travel Market tourism fair, met Marco for a little over half an hour at the Spanish Embassy in Chesham Place. The mayor of Benidorm, Toni Pérez, and the Costa Blanca Board of Trustees director, José Mancebo, were also visitors to the tourism fair.
According to a statement by the regional institution, Mazón and the Spanish ambassador have agreed that the ambassador communicates to the Government of the United Kingdom the “urgent need for the tourist and economic interests of the Alicante province.”
The Costa Blanca Board of Trustees president said, “British residents in the province are a source of wealth and one of our best representatives to encourage British tourism to the Costa Blanca.”
“They are fundamental, and that is why we are working on reciprocity so that they can stay in our territory for six months in a row when they come to visit us, and the same conditions apply for Spaniards wishing to stay longer-term in the United Kingdom.”
The meeting with the ambassador “has gone in the right direction, and we have launched activities to bring this possibility closer before the British Government.”
Mazón acknowledged that the meeting “has been very satisfactory” and that “the ambassador is perfectly aware of one of this matter as a priority for Alicante, which is probably the region with the largest number of British homeowners, with more than 70,000 owning property in the province.”
The International Residents area of the Alicante Provincial Council, led by the deputy Juan de Dios Navarro, has launched various informational drives to expedite procedures and resolve uncertainties raised by the British living in Alicante.
In the World Travel Market, the Costa Blanca Board yesterday closed an important agreement with international tour operators to activate a plan focused on accelerating the bookings made by British visitors to the province by 2022.
As Mazón announced, the strategy, developed in collaboration with the Costa Blanca tourism sector, will begin in December and consist of several phases. The hoped-for outcome is that by the first quarter of 2022, British tourists will book a large part of the holiday accommodation available in the province.
