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The municipalities of the Sierra de Guadarrama have had a high occupation of visitors during this weekend, the first of phase 1 of the de-escalation that allows mobility only within the province. The rural houses have hung the entire poster and the hotels they have opened have managed to fill almost all the rooms. "We are facing a weekend in May that we have not lived in recent years," said Ángel, owner of a rural house in Cercedilla. "In addition we have already reserved the next weekend and people do not stop calling to ask," he reiterates.

" All the rural houses are almost 100% and the hostels and restaurants are working very well, " confirms the mayor of Cercedilla (7,000 inhabitants), Luis Miguel Peña (Together for Cercedilla), who despite the closure of the Las Dehesas car park, points out that many people have gone up to the mountains and have parked in other areas that were free. "We have 5,000 first and second residence homes and it has been noted that the bars are full with the limitations that exist and that the supermarkets have had a lot of work," says the councilman.

In Guadarrama (16,032 inhabitants) the presence of tourists has also skyrocketed, which is why the Local Police and Civil Protection have had to carry out controls in the recreational areas of the La Jarosa reservoir, and foot patrols have also increased. urban area within a special operation designed for this weekend in Phase 1. " Public spaces have been expanded so that hoteliers can set more tables to offer more business opportunities as long as the capacity and safety distance are respected " , explains the mayor of Guadarrama, Diosdado Soto, from the PP. In addition, the Town Hall has expanded the parking spaces of the municipality and calculates that only this weekend it has been possible to double the number of people in the town. Likewise, the alderman has asked the Government Delegation to reinforce its troops and strengthen the Civil Guard barracks for the summer and for the coming weekends before the massive arrival of visitors. "We must remember that we have more than 40 housing estates and a summer population that almost triples in summer," indicates the mayor.

However, it should be noted that the Community of Madrid has temporarily closed the car parks in the recreational areas of the Cuenca Alta del Manzanares Regional Park and the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park as a preventive measure. However, the mayor of Manzanares El Real, José Luis Vioque, "has sent a letter to the Minister of Justice and Interior to evaluate this measure", since "in the end what they are doing is parking on the streets of the municipality, overloading the houses and creating insecurity among the neighbors. " "We have mobilized volunteers from Civil Protection, Local Police and contracted personnel from the City Council to carry out a control of parking lots and basically inform road users of the different measures and the different regulations on schedules, etc," Vioque explained.

Likewise, the Sierra de Guadarrama Development Association (Adesgam) has opted for sustainable, safe and healthy de-escalation in the area, which in turn guarantees the activity of active tourism, leisure and nature companies in the region to recover their work rhythm and they are the ones that can channel visits safely with visitors. " Tourism is essential to recover capacity and quality in all services ", but you have to "be aware, responsible and do it safely", emphasizes the president of Adesgam and the mayor of El Boalo, Javier de los Nietos.

Adesgam is the managing entity of the SICTED (Integral System of Spanish Tourist Quality in Destinations) of the destination Sierra de Guadarrama and encompasses the public-private fabric of Alpedrete, Becerril de la Sierra, Cercedilla, Collado Mediano, El Boalo-Cerceda-Mataelpino, Guadarrama, Hoyo de Manzanares, Los Molinos, Manzanares El Real, Miraflores de la Sierra, Moralzarzal, Navacerrada and Soto del Real.

Control of the Civil Guard in the port of Navacerrada to prevent vehicles from leaving the Community of Madrid. ANGEL NAVARRETE

The accommodations, restaurants, bars and shops of the Sierra de Guadarrama destination provide their service to the neighborhood of the region and to all the owners of second homes that have already moved to the mountains. " The terraces and restaurants are operating at 80% occupancy, " as well as "a greater presence of caravans, vans, motorcycles and cyclists," de los Nietos said.

He also stated that they have "practically recovered normalcy in the streets, in the squares and in commercial and business activity." "Since the last days and this weekend, practically everything has been reserved", but as for sports, "if it is not federated, you cannot go to those natural areas of the National Park."

Closed parking lots

The Sierra de Guadarrama destination offers more than 500 square km of culture and nature less than 40 km from Madrid, and offers a wide range of "tourism, hiking, trekking with specialists and with mountain guides, among other activities". De los Nietos explained that "they are carried out in groups of between 10 or 15 people, depending on the flexibility of the measures in each locality, and maintaining all the security and distance measures between the groups." " It is advisable to make these reservations with unit groups, family, groups of friends and that only one group attend the activity," he said.

During the months of confinement the Sierra de Guadarrama has been freed from the great pressure to which it is always subjected, significantly reducing the waste left on the roads and trails, and the impact on flora and fauna. The mayor of El Boalo told Europa Press that "it has been noticed a lot on the roads, paths and in the water of the rivers." "It is impressive the cleanliness that is in all the corners and, nevertheless, the fear that we have is that we will dirty it that way again," since, in addition, "now any rest that we leave may contain coronavirus infection," he asserted.

For his part, Vioque has pointed out that "we political leaders are the ones who have to rethink a lot what is the new model that we have to follow that is still a sustainable model and, above all, use public transport that the Madrid Community" so that "vehicle overload does not affect pollution, as in the rest of the community."

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