Malaga and Costa del Sol enjoy 'spectacular' Holy Week with higher spending and 85% occupancy rate

Pilar R. Quirós

Malaga

Monday, 21 April 2025, 10:52 | Updated 11:10h.

Holy Week in Malaga wins in many ways, all of which improve every year: a growing following of traditions and rituals throughout the province and a wide display of Andalusian culture for tourists. The latest tourism numbers at the close of this holiday week prove the increasing success of the period.

Last-minute bookings, boosted by the good weather, led to growth above the forecasts made by the hotel employers' association Aehcos last Holy Wednesday. Aehcos has put the average occupancy rate in the province's hotels for the last four days at 83%, a figure which climbed to 85% this past Saturday. The hotel industry also confirmed that it has seen a higher turnover than in 2024 - a year in which the Holy Week was earlier and suffered the disadvantages of bad weather.

If last Easter turned out to be somewhat lacklustre due to the rain, which dominated all days of the week apart from Tuesday, things reversed this year: during this Holy Week, only Tuesday saw bad weather, with some rain and wind that hardly reflected in hotel bookings, which had a strong boost, especially in the last part of the week.

The sector's expectations for the past few days were exceeded thanks to the sharp increase in last-minute bookings. There is a growing number of tourists who no longer organise their holidays so far in advance and only book at the last minute, because they want to know if the weather is going to be good.

The first place where the increase in passengers and tourists was noticed was at Malaga Airport, especially during the last part of the Holy Week. There were 428 flights on Maundy Thursday, although the peak days are Easter Sunday and today (Easter Monday), with 535 and 554 take-off and landing operations, respectively. By the end of the Easter period, the Costa del Sol airport will have operated almost 5,900 flights, 1,200 more than during the same time last year.

Aehcos figures soared in the middle of last week. If they started with an average occupancy forecast for the whole week in the province of 77%, on Holy Wednesday the association raised it to 80%. The final balance, however, rose even more, ending at 82% on Saturday. According to Aehcos executive vice-president Javier Hernández, the big days - Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday - contributed with individual records of 85%.

The figures for Malaga city, in particular, have been even better, with hotel bookings during the first part of the Holy Week reaching 86-87% on average. The period finished with 94% occupancy, which marked the four big days. At this rate, the city practically hung the 'sold out' sign. Even so, hoteliers continue to use 2023 as a reference point, when the general average in the province was 84%. Last year saw a drop due to the bad weather (76%), which is why the figures this year are a reason to celebrate.

General manager of Holiday World in Benalmádena on the Costa del Sol - Mari Francis Peñarroya - has announced the "sensational" balance of the whole week: "With international and national markets, and long stays, we have sold out, 98-99%." Director of the AC Malaga Palacio and Hotel Larios in Malaga city, Jorge Gonzalez, celebrated the good figures from the last days of the week, stating that hotels "have been really full" from Holy Wednesday onwards. Like his colleagues, he attributed the uncertainty in bookings at the start of the holiday week to the bad memories from last year's weather.

In the eastern area of the Costa del Sol, María Herrero, co-founder of the boutique hotel chain B bou, echoed the same observations, saying that hotel occupancy started at 75% and finished at 98%. "Holy Week has been good. If the weather is good, the occupancy rate is good," she said.

President of the tourist accommodation association (AVVAPro) Juan Cubo was also satisfied with the 77% occupancy rate in the province, which was 12 points higher than in 2024. Tourists mainly came from the UK, but there was also "an increase in North American tourism". "Malaga reaffirms itself as a preferred destination for family and quality tourism", Cubo said.

Rural accommodation was also marked by occupancy growth of 40% compared to 2024, according to booking platform www.ruralidays.com. Malaga province again led the way and positioned itself as the star destination in Andalucía, with figures above 73% for the main period (Maundy Thursday to Easter Sunday) and 64% for the whole week. Meanwhile, the average for the whole of Andalucía was below this figure, at just under 70% on the main days.

President of the hospitality and catering association of Malaga (Mahos) Javier Frutos said: "The turnover has been above last year's, and we have noticed the increase in international tourists."

The president of the association of beach business owners in Malaga, Manuel Villafaina, also expressed his satisfaction: "Splendid sunshine, except on Tuesday, good temperature, 'espetos' fish skewers and vitamin D" were the keys to a Holy Week that he described as "spectacular". 2024 figures are most certainly behind, but there is still some way to go in order to reach and exceed those from 2023. The tourism sector is therefore already preparing for 2026.