Seville’s pandemic tourism sector is hoping to get a shot in the arm from UEFA’s last-minute decision to appoint the southern Spanish city to host the Euro 2020 games.

As thousands of soccer fans flock to the city later this month, hotels, restaurants and bars are warning that the event won’t be enough to offset the business slump caused by the health crisis.

“It’s a first-class shop window,” said Antonio Munoz, city councilor in charge of tourism.

“It is a point of attraction to regain the attractiveness of this city for tourism.”

In April, the European football association UEFA selected Seville to replace Bilbao in northern Spain as the venue for the rescheduled football tournament.

Bilbao was dropped because it couldn’t guarantee organizers that it would be able to host fans in the stadium for games due to strict virus measures in the region.

The 64,000-seat La Cartuja stadium in Seville is expected to host all three Group E games against Sweden, Poland and Slovakia as well as a round of 16 game in the second half of June.

The capacity at the venue is limited to around 25 percent or 16,000 people.

Seville City Hall expects the Games to attract around 70,000 visitors, which has a direct economic impact of 61 million euros ($ 75 million) on the business.

Antonio Luque, head of the Seville Hospitality Association, said tourists would be welcomed “with open arms” but the money they would spend pales in comparison to the revenue the sector has lost.

Beyond the euro, 2021 will be “complicated,” added Luque, who does not expect hospitality revenues to return to pre-pandemic levels before 2023.

– ‘It is dead’ –

Seville is the third most visited city in Spain with its sunny weather, flamenco dances and historical landmarks like the Gothic cathedral.

The tourism sector accounts for 18 percent of the city’s economic output.

However, hospitality revenues plummeted from 1.6 billion euros in the previous year to 640 million euros in 2020 as the pandemic slowed travel around the world.

The story goes on

According to the hospitality association, this downturn in business led to around one in five companies closing their doors.

The decline in visitor numbers can be felt in the narrow streets of Seville’s old Jewish quarter, the Santa Cruz neighborhood.

“Half the shops here have closed. It’s dead,” said Maria Menendez, who runs a tea shop in the neighborhood, and pointed to a boarded-up shop across the street.

“The euro is a boost that will last three days,” she added.

A few steps from Seville’s famous cathedral, chef Rafael Sanchez recently reopened his Las Columnas tapas restaurant after being closed for 15 months due to the pandemic.

With nostalgia, he remembers the European, American and Asian tourists who have eaten in his restaurant in the past.

“I hope they all come at the same time and we can get back to normal,” said Sanchez.

– ‘Lost Year’ –

Slightly more than half of Seville’s hotels are currently open, but City Hall estimates that 70 percent of hotel beds will be available by mid-June.

The local hotel association was optimistic about the future, but declined a forecast for reservations that depend on the recovery of flights to the city.

Seville Airport currently operates 67 routes, two-thirds of what it was before the pandemic.

“The important thing is that Ryanair flights are resumed,” said Diego Zanoletti, an Italian who runs a bike rental business.

Like other business owners, he believes the euro is “a positive thing, but it remains a one-off event that won’t make up for our lost year or what we will lose in 2021”.

avl / ds / lth

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