Costa del Sol hotels start to feel the impact of the hauliers' strike

Stocks of fresh products are already getting low in Costa del Sol hotels due to the hauliers’ strike, although for the moment it is not having too much effect and they are hoping for a quick solution to the protests before the situation gets any worse.

What is causing more concern in the sector at present is the increase in energy costs and food prices. Alarm bells are already beginning to sound, at a time when bookings are going well, occupancy levels at Easter and in the summer are likely to be similar to pre-pandemic levels and restrictions on international travel are being lifted in many countries. The hoteliers are warning that these extra costs could mean a perfect storm is on the horizon, after two years of constant cloud.

Miguel Sánchez, the founder and CEO of MS Hoteles, says the hauliers’ strike is having a “tremendous” effect on his business. With four hotels open in the province, he says that fresh foods, especially perishable items that are normally bought every day, are becoming hard to obtain.

Sánchez says his group has already had to reconsider its budget for this year. “We did our calculations in November in the hope that 2022 would be similar to 2019, but energy and food costs have gone up so much that those calculations are irrelevant now. In just a few months our costs have risen between eight and ten per cent. That is going to have a considerable effect on our profits because the contracts with tour operators are already signed and a high volume of bookings for Easter and the summer have been confirmed. This increase will be impossible to recover,” he says.

Another hotel owner, in Benalmádena, says a solution to the hauliers' strike needs to be found, and fast. “We had prepared for this protest, but no matter how much you stock up, things will run out eventually and that is what is starting to happen,” he says. It is becoming difficult for any household to find fresh produce, dairy items, fish and meat now, but it is especially complicated for hotels with 250 or 300 rooms, who have to cater for their guests.

In Malaga city, the manager of the AC Marriott Málaga Palacio, Jorge González, says the only effect of the hauliers’ strike at present is that orders are not arriving on time. “Apart from a few delays, our suppliers are fulfilling our orders,” he says.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has increased uncertainty and that has also raised costs. The president of the Aehcos hotel association on the Costa del Sol, José Luque, said a few days ago that the rise in energy prices are the main cause of increased costs in the sector, as it now accounts for between five and eight percent of the total. “This is going to have a major effect on hotel profits,” he warned.