Sunday 1st November was a ‘red day’ and in some autonomous communities, the bank holiday was carried forward to the Monday – not here in the Valencian Community, but elsewhere many people enjoyed a long weekend. The usual influx of visitors was greatly reduced due to the closure of autonomous community borders. However, government figures have just been released about the long weekend which took place earlier in October when the Valencian Community enjoyed a four day weekend due to the 9th and 12th October bank holidays.
The government’s mobility study found that during the October bank holiday weekend, the Alicante province had an influx of visitors from many other areas of Spain, particularly from Castilla-La Mancha and the Basque Country.
The study also found that people from Alicante also went to Andalusia and Aragon. The closure of Madrid limited movement into and out of the region, although many locals here reported the arrival of Madridian neighbours despite people from Madrid asked to stay at home when the region went into lockdown in mid October.
The study was carried out by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, which as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, was able to monitor the position of mobile phones. The report indicated that, between October 8 and 13, displacements between Alicante and other provinces were eight times more than usual.
In addition, the analysis of phone data allowed those behind the study to see the origin and destination of trips, making it possible to see in detail where visitors came from and where the people from Alicante went for the long weekend. For example, on October 8 and 9 there were twice as many trips from Ciudad Real than on a normal day, and three times more on the 9th from Toledo. On the 12th there were 6.57 times more trips from Ciudad Real to Alicante than on a normal Monday, while from Toledo the trips were multiplied by 5.54.