Spanish beach resorts turned to ghost towns as British holiday U-turn hits hard

Every picture tells as story and these ones paint a gloomy picture for the Spanish tourism industry which is already wilting due to the British quarantine, with beaches and bars deserted.

Numbers were already down on previous years, and tourist numbers have dwindled even further since the snap announcement on Saturday night of reimposed quarantine restrictions.

Local business owners and expat Brits are increasingly worried for their livelihoods, and desperate for the UK and Scottish governments to reconsider what they feel is a draconian decision.

Yesterday, beaches, bars and restaurants which normally would have been packed with British tourists were almost empty.

Figueretas beach in Ibiza would normally be packed with Brits enjoying a summer break (Getty Images)

The only places that were full were airports, with Brits flying home. In Majorca empty planes were arriving after TUI and Jet2 cancelled flights and holidays to the Balearic and Canary Islands and mainland Spain as a result of the new quarantine rule.

In total, 35 UK flights were due to land at Palma Airport, and 11 flights to Ibiza and Menorca, on Tuesday.

Deserted sunbeds on the beach at Torremolinos in Spain (Phil Harris)

But most of the arriving planes will be for repatriation flights only.

The mayoress of Fuengirola, Ana Mula, pleaded with Boris Johnson to reconsider his position. She said: “We have noticed a drastic difference since the announcement.

Playamar beach is deserted in Torremolinos (Europa Press via Getty Images)

"You can see it in the British bars that would usually be full but are now lying empty.

"The fear is everywhere for businesses but the only way we can encourage people to come out is to show them how safe it is. But all these measures are worthless if the British Government won’t listen to us and see how hard we are working.

“We’re very sad about this decision because we have done everything possible to make sure all the safety measures are in place. We have taken this very seriously.”

The staff of El Rey de la Gamba 2 restaurant In Barcelona have nobody to cater for (Getty Images)

In a personal plea to the PM, she said: “I would urge Boris Johnson to think twice and look at the facts. The situation here is not like other places like Barcelona or Aragon.

“The rates of infection on the south coast here are much lower then there and I would plead with the British Government to base their information on the statistics at hand – this is a safe place to visit.”