Albert Cuquet is very satisfied, especially after doing the maths and and seeing that this Easter he sold “three times as much” as in 2019. In his store, Oliveras (next to the Mercat Vell), he has “quality” clothes, which are very expensive, but he sold a lot of clothes over Easter regardless: “They didn’t hesitate to spend”. Despite the crisis. British, Dutch, Swiss and Italians were his main customers. Very few Spaniards, “but good ones”. He is so “happy” that he has to calculate whether, if things continue like this, he will have enough stock to last the whole season or if he will have to order more, a complication in these times given the distribution problems, which he says he has already experienced.
Less Spaniards over Easter
“After these last two years, people are eager to spend. This year we can see that they want to enjoy themselves”, comments Marco, waiter at La Margarita, on Paseo de Vara de Rey, a pizzeria that had quite a lot of work during the Easter public holidays, with many “French, Germans, Italians and Spaniards”. That is one of the striking features of this Semana Santa: the Spanish tourist, has not been, as in other years, the predominant one at this time of year. Across the street, at Passion, Tomás, one of the employees, confirms that the flood of people came “on Wednesday and Thursday”, and then dropped off at the weekend.
According to Óscar Tur, owner of Més Prop and Yoguis, two souvenir shops in the Marina, there is an explanation for what happened on Wednesday (as well as on Palm Sunday): the cruise ships. And if it coincides with poor weather, even better. The stars aligned on Wednesday, according to Tur, when the rain drew tourists away from the beaches and attracted them to the city for shopping: “They were very lively days, more so than Easter 2019. It also helped that these holidays fell so late,” he says.
“We did not expect so many customers; we had more than other pre-covid years”
Toni Serra, from the bar Can Peixet, also notes that “people want to go out and spend”, but warns that, perhaps, now we have the feeling that more tourists arrive because we have spent two years where we hardly saw them. He has noticed more foreigners than usual, more than Spaniards. For both La Boheme and Chic Fashion Food, a few meters from the port, Easter “has gone very well”, according to Kamel: “We did not expect so many customers; we had more than other pre-covid years,” he says. Many Germans, British, French and Spaniards” passed through his shop and restaurant.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.