News
TOURIST BASTION REDUCED TO SHELTER FOR HOMELESS
Kevin Reardon / 2009-12-28 17:24:05
It opened as the Hotel Fontana in the mid eighties. The dawn of a tourism stronghold signalling the arrival of Torrevieja onto the holiday scene. Seven suites and 156 luxury rooms in the centre of the city, in the heart of old downtown and a milestone in local history.
In those years the hotel quickly became a popular addition to the tourist infrastructure, not only being required to cater for the influx of foreign holidaymakers but also for those many thousands of expatriates who were beginning to flood into the area with their new found wealth, many of them determined to take advantage of the relatively cheap housing stock.
As the construction of residential accommodation became increasingly fashionable so did the development of tourism in the town. The hotel promptly became a symbol of modernity and with 20 boom years ahead it prospered in line with the increasingly buoyant Spanish economy.
But as the economy faltered so did the prosperity of the hotel until, in the summer of 2008, the courts decided they’d had enough. They finally closed its doors, the owners leaving a debt of seven million euros and a staff of 30 employees.
Shortly after closure, as reported in this newspaper at the time, we saw a great deal of interest in the facility from a Swedish company group of investors. Hailed as the hotel’s saviours they arrived in the town in a blaze of glory. They had long discussions with the hotel management company indicating a desire to refurbish and reopen the facility. There were meetings with the hotel owners and the future once again looked to be relatively good for the Hotel Fontana.
But as quickly as the Swedes arrived and the negotiations got underway, the process was brought to a sudden end. The slump in the Spanish economy got depressingly worse and the interest in re opening the hotel was called to an abrupt halt.
Since that initial interest it's been almost a year, during which time the building, which underwent a renovation in 2002, has rapidly deteriorated. We have seen debris falling into the street from the hotel façade and the balconies requiring the attention of both the Local Police and Fire Services.
Indeed the dangerous condition of the façade has caused such concern that it has been necessary to erect fencing to ensure the safety of passing pedestrians, cordoning off sections of two of the busiest streets in the town, Ramon Gallud and Rambla de Juan Mateo. Meanwhile, the hotel’s main entrance hall, staircase and covered outside area is now being used regularly as a night shelter by the homeless.
While the Swedish investors were in the city, Torrevieja Town Hall and the local authorities offered their support in any way that they could with the refurbishment project but despite the owners and investors gathering in Madrid for additional talks on at least one occasion they were unable to reach a concrete agreement.
Since those days, of the Swedes, nothing more has been heard. Perhaps they chose discretion as the success of the programme would have required a considerable amount of both investment and effort. The Fontana Hotel meanwhile continues to remain abandoned, still waiting for some affluent investor to appreciate its true worth. But how long will that be?
Many people that I spoke to are surprised that it is still closed, a facility in the heart of one of the major tourist cities in the area, indeed on the whole of the Mediterranean coast.
But with the Swedes now long gone and no other interest apparently forthcoming the only activity we regularly see on the forecourt is from the increasing number of homeless who are using its external facilities to some effect, and the regular attendance of the Policia Locale and the Bomberas, as yet another chunk of masonry falls onto the street below from once splendid, but now rapidly decaying, building
Caption: The main facade of the Hotel Fontana in Torrevieja is now being used as a shelter by the homeless.
Tags: Tourism
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