ARCHIVED - Benidorm hotels enjoy a busy first half of November

The Benidorm Fancy Dress Party contributes to high occupancy rates this month

It may be November and hotels in many areas of the Spanish costas may have closed down for the winter, but in Benidorm on the Costa Blanca there’s no such thing as an off season and the occupancy rate of the town’s hotel rooms was as high as 83.1% in the first half of this month.

This is 1.8% lower than in the same period last year, but even so represents the second best figure for the first fortnight of November since comparable records were first kept in 2002, according to local hotels association Hosbec.

During the fifteen-day period 53.7% of the guests occupying rooms in Benidorm were non-Spanish, most of them coming from the UK, Belgium and Holland, but as is traditional during the winter the largest market in Benidorm was the domestic one. Minor markets such as Portugal and Russia have decreased their share this year.

Figures for the first half of November are traditionally boosted in Benidorm by the local fiestas, and this year the warm weather and the British-organized Benidorm Fancy Dress Party have also played their part, according to Hosbec president Antonio Mayor.

The Benidorm Fancy Party, which brings over 30,000 visitors to the resort, has grown to become one of the biggest carnival-style events in Europe, and is one of the reasons for Benidorm being able to boast November hotel room occupancy figures which are almost unmatched anywhere else in Spain.