Spain blackout
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The Holiday World complex is currently the largest tourist resort on the Costa del Sol, with four hotels and a beach club. Despite the fact that the nationwide blackout took place on a Monday in April, after Easter Week had passed, its facilities were occupied almost at full capacity (90%). This means that when the power was cut throughout Spain, 2,280 guests were staying at the hotel.
"We were preparing for lunch," said director of the Holiday World Village hotel José Manuel García Vico. The situation forced the company to implement plan B and activate the diesel-fuelled generators in each hotel, which meant that at no time were they left without supply.
Nonetheless, many of the hotels' routines were still disrupted by these force majeure circumstances, as each generator (one per hotel) can only supply 40% of the usual power.
"We kept the power on in the common areas, the reception and the central kitchen, but the rooms were without electricity. We set telephone charging stations in the common areas and brought microwaves, especially for families with small children, who often need to heat up bottles," said the director.
The internet service also remained uninterrupted. This was a priority, given that 75% of the guests were foreigners, so "it was important for them to be connected and informed". Even so, all of them were asked to use the wifi responsibly and only for emergency calls.
The company's committee established information guidelines for the guests, making sure that everybody received important messages from within the hotel and from Spain through posters, loudspeakers and in person.
Lifts remained operational only for truly necessary cases: people with disabilities or parents with strollers who needed to access the dining room. The kitchens' cookers have access to gas, so cooks resorted to casseroles and salads, as plugged-in fryers and ovens could not be used.
Otherwise, the tourists staying there continued enjoying their holiday pace as much as they could, especially since the day was warm and sunny. Music was played, the bars were open and the swimming pool, which was at its busiest in the middle of the day, remained accessible. "It was not a normal day, but we tried to maintain normality," said García Vico.
The only bigger issue was that several guests had to return to the hotel after their flights got cancelled, but all of them were re-assigned a room. In addition, all guests were asked to stay within the premises, as the town went dark at night.
"All guests were understanding of the situation and there were no problems, also because we managed to maintain life in the hotels" until the supply was fully restored at 3am.
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