The AVE closure with Madrid costs Seville up to 1.5 million a day

The interruption of high-speed rail between Seville and Madrid leaves the province with direct losses of between 1.38 and 1.48 million euros a day during November, and between 1.26 and 1.34 million a day in December. These are the figures from the report presented by the Seville Chamber of Commerce, prepared by the company Merkadhok, on the impact of the line's closure following the rail accident in Urda (Toledo) on October 28. The calculation covers only the direct spending of travellers who cannot make their journeys: food, leisure and shopping (about 87 euros per night per person), accommodation in hotels and tourist apartments (113 euros per room in November and 107 in December) and spending at the station and its surroundings by those not staying overnight (15 euros per journey). The study leaves out the indirect effect on employment or suppliers, tax revenue and the cancellation of fairs and conferences, so, according to the Chamber, the overall damage is significantly higher.

Every day more than 6,300 people stop arriving in Seville by train. Airlines have added some 1,218 daily seats and the road provides 1,430 bus passengers and 1,100 in private vehicles, reinforcements that the chamber institution considers insufficient to absorb the usual high-speed demand. The tourism sector is already looking to the coming months. The president of the Seville and Province Hotel Association, Jorge Castilla, has said they are concerned about "the medium and long term": first the short-term cancellations and the calling off of events due to mourning, and then reputation, with average occupancy of 75 % in the city. "If bookings keep falling in January and February, which is low season, it will be very negative for the sector," he has warned. The president of the Seville Association of Tourism Companies (ASET), Jorge Robles, has put the average impact at 20 %, with companies heavily affected by the cancellation of conventions. The president of the Seville and Province Hotel and Catering Association (AHSP), Alfonso Maceda, has stressed that there is only one rail line with Madrid and has asked the authorities to resolve it "as soon as possible", because of the cost it will have on employment. The municipal government spokesperson, Juan Bueno, has announced that they will demand that the national government restore the connection. The president of the Chamber of Commerce, Francisco Herrero, has summed up the urgency: "The economy has to keep going." The participants have offered their condolences to the victims of the Urda accident before presenting the data.