Union representatives described the holiday as successful, despite the ‘last minute’ restrictions and breaches of regulations by tourists.
Salinas, SANTA ELENA
Marcos Mosquera arrived at 09:00 this Sunday 2 at the beach of the Salinas canton, in Santa Elena, to enjoy the last day of the holiday. He, a native of the Guayas province, said that he chose to travel to the Peninsula only on Sunday to save the cost of the hotel.
I anxiously waited for the sun to rise, but the sky was cloudy during the morning and from time to time there was a breeze or drizzle. The cold or ‘pacheco’, as many tourists call it, also accompanied the previous day, that of Saturday 1, which worried merchants who expected the weather to change in the last hours of the holiday.
The hotelier and Salinas councilor Susana Sotomayor announced that on Friday, December 31, the hotel capacity was 50%, but on Saturday the figure rose to 80%.
“There was a lot of movement, a large influx of people, but the hotels were missing more, we detected that they arrived only for one day and left the next, only 20% stayed until yesterday,” said Sotomayor.
Expectation in Santa Elena for the arrival of tourists for this 31; bookings went up in the last hours
Luis Tenempaguay, vice president of the Santa Elena Province Chamber of Tourism, agreed with Sotomayor’s figures.
The leader of this sector assured that the decision of the cantonal COE to keep open nightclubs and entertainment centers with a capacity of 50% was the best decision, because that attracts tourists. This, once the national COE ordered that nightclubs, amusement centers and others be closed during the Christmas and New Year holidays due to the increases in COVID-19 infections in the country and the presence of the omicron variant, of higher transmissibility.
That announcement by the national entity was classified as a strong blow for tourism, since the servers of this branch had prepared in advance to receive travelers at Christmas and New Year’s Eve, and that measure, also classified as last minute it changed plans and caused reservations to be canceled, business truncated, and supplier orders lost.
“No one was going to come to a hotel to lock themselves up, that (decision of the cantonal COE) helped us a lot. The holiday has been successful, “said Tenempaguay leader, who estimated that more than 30,000 people arrived in Salinas on the New Year’s Eve and New Year’s holiday, according to preliminary figures or balances.
Bars, discos and restaurants open until 02:00 in Manta and Portoviejo, where the burning of puppets has not been prohibited
María Tomalá, a merchant from the Playa, Mar y Sol Association, said there were tourists from all over Ecuador, as well as foreigners. Of the latter, the Colombians stood out. In the afternoon, the sun rose and more bathers were reported in other towns of Santa Elena, such as San Pablo, Ayangue, Olón and Montañita.
Measures were breached at the end of 2021 and receiving the 2022
And although the burning of puppets in the sand was prohibited, to avoid crowds and possible COVID-19 infections, in Salinas, Santa Elena, there were those who did not respect national and cantonal regulations.
Part of this was seen when dismissing 2021 and receiving 2022. Crowded people, who did not wear a mask and who burned their old years was the tonic of those hours, despite the fact that the beach, like the one in Salinas, was only going to receive tourists until 6:00 p.m. and there it was forbidden to burn puppets.
“Let the virus die”, “Long live the new year,” repeated José, a citizen who came to the resort of Salinas, to say goodbye to the year 2021.
On the night of December 31, 2021, the peninsular canton received a crowd of people who, amid the euphoria of the change of year, failed to comply with several of the measures ordered by the national and cantonal Emergency Operations Committees (COE).
In recent days, the Municipality of Salinas made a campaign to inform that the entrance to the beach was until 6:00 p.m., and the burning of puppets in the sand was also prohibited, however, dozens of citizens arrived with their old years to incinerate them.
Dozens of citizens burned puppets in the beach area in Salinas, despite restrictions; agglomerations were also reported
After the countdown, just at midnight they set the bonfires and even launched camaretas, as happened in years before the pandemic.
The fireworks display dazzled family groups and friends who chose to welcome the new year with the practice of various kabbalahs such as wearing white clothing, eating grapes, raising balloons of desire, among other rituals.
In social networks, questions were asked about non-compliance with biosafety measures. Most of the attendees did not wear a mask, there were crowds and even consumption of alcoholic beverages in public spaces, although it was not allowed either.
Until the closing of this edition, neither authorities nor unions spoke out for these events.
Departure of tourists from the terminal
Little presence of tourists who left for their cities of origin was observed in the land terminal of Santa Elena, on the morning of this January 2.
It was confirmed that 13,600 passengers departed on Saturday from 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
According to the Ecuadorian Transit Commission (CTE), 7,187 vehicles entered the province on Friday, December 31, 2021, on Saturday 13,534 and 8,160 vehicles left. In the global count, from Thursday 30 to Saturday 1, 26,587 cars entered and around 3,065 left. (I)
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