Thomas Cook collapse hits tourists in Spain’s Balearic and Canary Islands
Hundreds of passengers have been left stranded in the country after the British travel company ceased trading on Monday.
The collapse of the British travel group Thomas Cook has delivered a massive blow to the Spanish tourism industry. Around 3.6 million passengers travel to Spain on Thomas Cooks’ regular and chartered flights each year, the majority of whom (3.2 million) fly to the Balearic and Canary Islands, according to data from the Spanish airport authority AENA. The British travel group also works with 20 hotels in the Balearic Islands, 20 in the Canary Islands and six in the rest of the country, according to the company’s webpage.
Thomas Cook, the second-largest tour operator in the world, ceased trading on Monday after last-minute talks failed to produce a funding lifeline, according to the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The collapse has stranded 600,000 tourists across the world, including 150,000 British holidaymakers, who are now waiting to be repatriated. There were an estimated 70,000 Britons stuck in Spain on Monday.
The British government has said the repatriation effort – the largest since the Second World War – would take place over the next two weeks, but in Spain affected passengers have already been left waiting for flights at airports. The CAA will repatriate tourists from a total of 11 destinations in Spain – Alicante, Almería, Girona, Reus, Ibiza, Menorca, Palma, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Tenerife. It has also activated a support plan for Thomas Cook customers in the country.
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