The President of Aragon, Javier Lambán, today visited the town of Alquézar in Huesca, one of the tourist references of the Community and declared one of the most beautiful villages in Spain.
There he has taken the opportunity to point out the heritage and nature as «favorable wealth factors» for Aragon. «I think that, in our Community, history and nature, natural factors were quite adverse to us for centuries. There were territories in Spain that were much more favored, both by history and by nature, but there has come a time when the tables are beginning to turn very clearly and two elements, which in the distant Middle Ages favored us and brought about a golden age for our millenary political community, are once again favorable to us and the winds are blowing in our favor again», he stressed. For this reason, and in view of the current situation in which inland tourism has been strengthened by the pandemic, Lambán has urged to deepen in the tourist «strengths» of Aragón to turn tourism into a strategic sector.
In fact, he has considered «great news» that the tourist occupancy data of the Community are at levels close to 2019, before the pandemic, and there is even talk in some areas of record figures. «The summer is being quite promising from the tourist point of view,» he assured. Lambán recalled that the Government of Aragón «has turned to the hospitality and tourism sector, being aware that they were having a hard time, that they were the economic sectors most affected by the restrictions that we had to adopt to preserve the health and life of the Aragonese». In this sense, he referred to the 50 million of the Hotel and Catering Plan for 2021 and the 20 million for 2020, to the tourist vouchers, the aid for snow (already announced) and for spas (to be published at the end of August or the beginning of September). He also mentioned the efforts in tourism promotion that are being undertaken this year, with a budget of 5 million.
The president has walked the streets of the town of Huesca -declared as one of the most beautiful villages in Spain- and has known the rehabilitation of the Collegiate Church of Santa María de Alquézar, which has been restored thanks to a master plan in which nearly 3 million euros were invested. Another of the attractions of the town are the walkways, which attract 120,000 visitors every year. Precisely, he has pointed out the municipality of Alquézar as a «pioneer» in realizing the importance of heritage to generate economic activity and fix population. «Here, years ago, the people began to realize the importance of what they had in their hands, they began with their expenses and their initiatives to restore, to recover buildings, to recover houses… and now we are witnessing an absolutely shocking and refulgent reality, which impacts us from any point of view», explained Lambán.
In the 50s and 60s, this town was depopulated and deteriorated until it was practically in a state of ruin. But thanks to the collaboration of the neighbors, who worked hard to rehabilitate this village, it has become one of the tourist references of the Community. In the 1970s there was only one private house that served meals, while today there are 17 restaurants, 5 hotels plus one under construction, 2 campsites, 60 tourist apartments and an inn. «Behind a great historical heritage as well cared for and refulgent as this one, there is a neighborhood that is committed, a generous neighborhood, a neighborhood that loves its heritage, which is the perfect complement. People go to places because the heritage is beautiful, because the food is good, because the nature is splendid, but the human factor is the most important of all and, of course, Alquézar meets this requirement in a way absolutely surplus and clamorous», remarked the president, who has expressed his commitment to continue helping this town and its mayor, Mariano Altemir, which has highlighted «his decisive push».