One in four Basques refuses to travel on holiday for economic reasons

The December Bridge will be extended until next Monday, and many people will be able to disconnect from their routine . Many of them will choose to make a trip, but more and more people are refusing to travel on their days off, especially for economic reasons. Personal reasons, illness, being in the care of the elderly, not having a vacation or, directly, fleeing crowds also have an impact.

In particular, one in four Basques cannot travel on holiday a  in a single week, a figure that has almost doubled in four years, according to the report on tourist habits carried out last year by the Basque Government, the Basque Tour and the Basque Tourism Observatory.

The departures of one or twonights remain the usual  for one in two people in the Basque Country, as indicated by 51.9% of the people consulted. However, the number of Basques making a short departure from the weekend or bridge has decreased. In fact, % have never or almost never made a departure, 11 points more than in 2021.

Short-lived departures are a more common travel optionamong citizens between the agesof 18 and 49 . In this sense, seven out of ten people under the age of 29 use bridges or certain dates to make short stays.

Another noteworthy fact is that three out of ten Basques (29.9%) have a second residence for holidays or departures, including bungalows, caravans or fixed mobile homes.

The most common option when travelling is to travel in the family (36.8 per cent) or in the couple (36.3 per cent), followed by those who travel with friends (11.7 per cent), family and friends (9.4 per cent) and those who prefer to travel alone (3.9 per cent).

According to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), at the State level , 33.4 per centof the Spanish population cannot enjoy a holiday period of at least one week a year; that is, one in three people refuse a long trip for economic reasons.