The Imserso program is one of the country’s best-known tourism initiatives, launched in 1978 with the country’s first steps toward democracy. Next Monday, May 19, marks the deadline for companies in the sector to submit their proposals for the 2025/2026 season. These plans were criticized by Hosbec, the employers’ association, during the 2025 season. Hosbec has lobbied the Ministry of Social Rights to increase the price per subsidized place and revise many of the approaches stipulated in the terms and conditions for the next season.
Price plays a crucial role in how establishments present their destinations in the list of proposals. However, the document also revealed other contradictions that call into question the program’s goal of social tourism. One of the innovations is that retirees will be allowed to travel with their pets for the first time. However, the specifications indicate that users must pay the prices set by the hotel.
This is where the irony comes in: A facility could earn around €30 per day per pet, which is considered the benchmark price for accommodations in the province of Alicante. At the same time, however, they only receive around €27 per pensioner per day. This means that the program makes a pet that actually plays a supporting role more attractive. However, Hosbec sees the problem not only in the contradiction, but also in the “conflicts, complaints, and claims” that can arise when users review the costs, which is often the case. The association’s general secretary, Nuria Montes, points out that they are concerned that an option for which only 2% of the places are reserved is presented as universal. A total of 8,800 places have been specified, while the reservation for the whole of Spain is 668,000, spread across lots 1 and 2 (peninsula and islands).
Another detail in the specifications concerns the water supply. Imserso points out that it is “mandatory” that table wine and bottled water from a registered brand be served with full board. This means that filtered or purified water, which is considered more sustainable because it eliminates the use of plastic, is not offered. While there have been improvements in the elimination of so-called “picnics” for users, there are also oddities, such as at Hosbec, where there are doubts about the practices of the professional teams and possible complaints from users.
After publishing the conditions, Hosbec cited as an example that it would earn more points if a hotel had year-round Wi-Fi. “The hotel industry is particularly suffering from Imserso’s lack of sensitivity towards hotels that remain open throughout the winter, even when they incur significant losses. Although a special assessment has been introduced for offers that include hotels throughout the season, the reality shows that offering free Wi-Fi in rooms scores more points. According to available data, only 18 of the 179 hotels in the program were open during the October-June period last year. Therefore, if the same structure is maintained, none of the successful bidders could score points for this important business opportunity,” the harsh statement reads.
Added to these specific facts are the underlying problems: the economic impact on employment. Under the current social tourism program, 26 hotels in the province of Alicante, four in Castellón, and one in Valencia are offering accommodation. Of these 31 establishments, 18 are located in Benidorm. Before the 2008 crisis, the Valencian Community had 60 accommodations in the Imserso program, and until 2019, the Costa Blanca was significant, according to Montes. For six years, employers have recognized this deterioration and pointed to the lack of transparency in the design of working conditions in order to achieve improvements.
“The reality of the sector is not sufficiently taken into account, and the country’s existing active aging policies are ignored,” said the Secretary General. This criticism can be translated into numbers. In 2020, Hosbec commissioned a feasibility study for the service, which estimated the production costs for hotels at around €27 or €30, depending on depreciation. But two years later, after a pandemic and against the backdrop of the war, costs have increased by 30%.
The picture from this calculation shows that the program’s original goal of keeping hotels open in winter is increasingly losing its relevance. Hosbec confirms that there are already hotels that close for one or two months in the low season and issue regulations for their staff, because it is more expensive for them to open – even under the Imserso program – than to close. The Secretary General avoids naming names so as not to discriminate against the establishments, but some display the “closed” sign during reservations between December and February.
There is no official estimate of the number of employees laid off permanently who will become unemployed. Despite the positive growth in tourism, it has become clear that interest in being part of the Imserso offer is no longer seen as a sign of good taste, but rather as a gamble in negotiations. Therefore, it is the chains that are best able to manage the available places.
The figures in this regard have not changed significantly, and the specifications for travel in 2025/2026 provide for 153,754 places in the Valencian Community, to which another 9,530 will be added from Lot 3, which includes cultural circuits, nature tourism, or provincial capitals.
