Spanish tourism is experiencing a black week. The sector is one of the most affected by the impact of the coronavirus and the uncertainty, far from alleviating itself with the de-escalation plans that are being implemented by the different governments, continues to grow around companies such as airlines, hotels or travel agencies, who do not know when or how they can resume operations. The viability of many of them is on the table and everything together has penalized them in recent days on the Stock Market. Only in Spain, where tourism is one of the pillars of the economy, the Ibex tourism companies have lost almost 3,000 million euros in value , with IAG and Amadeus as the main ones affected by the falls.

Both have been particularly affected by the restrictions announced in these last sessions. On Monday, the market would digest British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's announcement to impose a 14-day quarantine on all travelers arriving in the UK by air. That day, the IAG air conglomerate - which includes Iberia, Vueling or British Airways, among other airlines -, Aena, the Meliá hotel chain and Amadeus itself left 1,315 million euros, according to data provided by Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME).

On Tuesday, the announcement by the Executive of Pedro Sánchez arrived, which, following the British trail, has also established a forced quarantine of 14 days for people who come to Spain from abroad. The measure has sparked criticism and discomfort from the sector, which it considers may be a definitive blow to its already battered situation. However, the Health Minister, Salvador Illa , has made it clear that they do not plan to back down on this matter, not even taking into account the misgivings that Brussels has shown towards the measure.

The EU is the biggest hope they hold on to in the sector. The Commission presented a report on Wednesday with recommendations to gradually reopen the Union's internal borders, with a three-phase de-escalation and safe corridors between countries with similar situations in terms of containing the pandemic. In addition, it will allow airlines to fill flights without leaving seats free.

Companies

Although it is still early to predict the scope of this plan, it is a first step to try to alleviate the situation of the companies. Amadeus has been one of the last to present its accounts and these reflect the heavy penalty for canceling flights in recent months. The group's total revenues between January and March have contracted by 27.3%, to 1,021 million euros; bookings have plummeted 44.6% and the number of passengers boarded fell 12%. Since last Monday, the firm specialized in travel reservations has lost 1.6 billion market capitalization, to the 16.723 million that it totaled at the close of this Thursday. So far this year, its shares have gone from 72.9 euros to just over 37.

The Meliá hotel chain has also left 129 million this week, up to 766 this Thursday, and the prospects for it are not rosy. "The hotel sector presents high uncertainty from 2021" for various reasons, as pointed out by Bankinter's Analysis department . "The containment measures of Covid-19 will be the last to be lifted, when this occurs the hotels will have a reduced capacity and we do not foresee a normalization of international traffic until there is a vaccine" against the coronavirus in this period, for which the entity estimates it won't return to benefits until at least 2022. "Furthermore, we cannot rule out additional liquidity needs," he adds.

In the case of IAG , after overcoming the uncertainties of Brexit, the group is now fighting to guarantee its viability. So far this year, its shares on the stock market have gone from changing to 7.9 euros to just over 1.9 euros in which it ended this Thursday. Its capitalization barely exceeds 4,000 million euros (4,074) and only this week 408 million have been left on the road.

The restrictions on flights, practically paralyzed since the origin of the pandemic, have weighed on their assessment and that of Aena , the operator of Spanish airports. Its value on the Ibex now stands at 15,420 million euros, compared to 16,185 on Monday.

The declines have become more severe shortly before the close of this session, although they have finally softened. The Ibex 35 , which has lost more than 3% on the day, ended with a 1.3% contraction, which placed it at 6,545 points .

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