This is the new scheme that guarantees access to Granada's Alhambra and other key monuments

Laura Ubago

Granada

Wednesday, 24 April 2024, 22:40 | Updated 22:50h.

After the idea first came about in 2017, visitors to Granada who spend at least two nights in one of the city's hotels, B&Bs, hostels or aparthotels, or passengers on cruise ships that call in at Motril are now guaranteed to be able to get tickets to visit the Alhambra palace.

"Until now, those who did not sleep in the city were able to visit the Alhambra and those who slept in Granada's hotels found it difficult," said Gregorio García, president of the provincial federation of hotels and tourism, the association that has fought for this measure to be introduced.

For the association it made no sense that those who spent their money in Granada's hotels did not have access to the Alhambra because they could not get tickets. They would have to join the queues along with those visiting just for the day in the hope that they hadn't sold out by the time they eventually reached the ticket office.

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This will not happen from now on because tourists who spend at least two nights in the city's accommodation will be able to buy the Granada Card overnight voucher, a new type of tourist card that offers a package of monuments, including the Alhambra, for 49 euros.

The various administrations involved have had to come together and find a formula to ensure that the mechanism for accessing the tickets had no loopholes. For this reason, the city hall which is the entity with overall responsibility for the Granada Card and the Patronato de la Alhambra - responsible for the tickets - have brought in the Chamber of Commerce to promote the voucher. Tourists will be able to get it at hotels, guesthouses, hostels and aparthotels.

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There have been a number of attempts to get the voucher scheme off the ground, in 2018 and then in 2020, without it actually being launched. Now the agreement reached between Granada city hall, the Patronato de la Alhambra and the Chamber of Commerce will reserve 30,000 annual tickets to the monument through the voucher.

This will mean that 83 overnight vouchers will be put on sale daily, according to Joaquín Rubio, manager of the Chamber, who explained that this will be adapted to demand and that more tickets could be released if there is demand.

"In Granada there was a lack of a product to encourage overnight stays and we have achieved this with the tourist voucher", said Granada's mayor, Marifrán Carazo, who believes that the scheme will be a success.

The tourism spokesperson for the Junta de Andalucía, Fernando Egea, indicated that as well as the tickets for Granada city guests, 8,000 annual tickets will be reserved for cruise passengers calling in at the port of Motril who arrive in the low season and at times that guarantee that the day is spent in Granada, "We want it to be a quality visitor who books a meal in the city and spends money," Egea said.

Director of the Patronato de la Alhambra, Rodrigo Ruiz-Jiménez, pointed out that one of the main objectives of this action is to promote overnight stays in the city. "We are very satisfied with this agreement that we have reached with several institutions and that will be an important boost to tourism in our city," he said.

The Granada Card overnight stay voucher will guarantee visits to the Alhambra for those tourists who stay in the city: the doors will be open.