Tourism industry bosses express concern over latest rail travel chaos in Andalucía

The ongoing, increasingly frequent and complicated problems in the high-speed (AVE) rail connections have led Andalusian tourism industry leaders to raise their voices, expressing "enormous concern" and warning that "the lack of investment in mobility infrastructure calls into question our ability to compete with other regions in Spain to which the state seems to pay more attention."

In a statement issued by the Andalusian confederation of entrepreneurs (CEA), they point out that, in accordance with the majority sentiment of their organisations and companies, especially those most directly linked to tourism, "they want to convey to society as a whole their utmost concern over the recent railway chaos, which calls into question the quality of Andalucía as a destination." Therefore, they call on the responsible state administration and the public companies that manage the railway and airport infrastructure to strengthen not only the appropriate prevention mechanisms, but also direct support for those affected, in an effort to minimise the reputational damage being done to this region as a destination.

The business bosses believe that the lack of foresight, investment budgets and funding for proper maintenance of all this infrastructure are causing chaos in rail transport, which they fear could soon spread to the airport sector. The statement continued: "The events that have been occurring, which have been particularly serious and increasingly frequent and with more incidents right at the start of the peak summer season for tourism, are creating major problems for tourists but, even more seriously, they are generating reputational damage that could end up causing a loss of interest in our destination."