I put it through an online tranlator, interesting article re the history and future of the hotel
Four decades of ruins in the sun
Long ago Los Arenales del Sol ceased to be a place that only remarkable for its mountains of sand dunes, golden sand, crystal clear water and a ruined hotel. He now has 1,692 residents, a figure that increases tenfold in the summer to fill the hives of buildings that rise up to the last line of beach. Such is the demand that the hotel that gives its name to this district wants to regain Elche life to complete the tourist offer. The idyllic location on which will stand upright, bad penalties and transferring to the extent permitted by the current Coastal Act, makes him a candy for the hospitality industry. Finally, after 36 years, the sunshine of Los Arenales summer of 2017 will enter through the windows of this stunning resort.
The Los Arenales del Sol was opened in 1963 in the middle of nowhere. There were no more houses. Thomas Dura Bañuls (Santa Pola, 1921) and Maruja Sabater Carbonell (Alicante, 1923), his wife, started an incredible adventure. They put the first stone in the area now gathers in the central time of year, some 20,000 vacationers. "Don Thomas and Doña Rosita," as they call them with respect even the inhabitants of the area, bought the first line of land for 1,800,000 pesetas, from the border with Urbanova, belonging to the municipality of Alicante, the other side of Carabassí, owned by José Coquillat, another ahead of his time. Mr. Dura and his wife rose to the highest dune in Los Arenales to enjoy the views. From there, Don Thomas said Dona Maruja point: "There will build a hotel." "His wife said he was crazy, how would build there in the middle of a sandy desert," recalls Manuel Redondo, local resident.
Dona Maruja still lives in a penthouse frontline Los Arenales which is owned by the family. He has 92 years and boasts an improper lucidity of his age. The hotel closed in 1979 due to lack of financing, with a loan of 20 million pesetas that failed to meet a necessary reform. Don Thomas and Dona Maruja continued to live in the top floor, each in a separate house. The owner looked out his window to the sea, with Tabarca in the right diagonal; and he inward, where other years after 'crazy' Brick scrambled to raise cash. The activity of the compound, after lowering the blind, was limited to private events celebrating the feast of St. Thomas the Apostle, every December 21. Sebastian Gonzalez, the only child born to that moment in Los Arenales, was baptized there in 1981. Just ahead, his parents now They run a brewery. Paradoxes of life, the last time the hotel opened its doors to the public was on the occasion of the funeral of Thomas Dura in 1989, which was in the main dining room. His wife closed padlock after the death of her husband, also pushed by vandals looting streamed in through the ground floor.
With fear and grief Hotel Los Arenales, a vanguard building described at the time as the best coastal hotel in Europe, which would still be up to the big resorts of Spain is abandoned. The main floor, which was reached by Avenue boardwalk, entertained guests with its stone floors and marble and tile and glass walls, where he scanned the sea less than 30 meters. By handing over four floors rising 146 rooms. In the highest area were the two houses of the marriage of owners, next to the laundry and chimney advertising reminiscent of a famous brand of drink. Two elevators giving service to users, providing an idea of the size of the enclosure.
luxury, however, was in the basement, to be restored for future 38 parking spaces. There, near the same palm trees that are still standing, there was a pool L-shaped and crystal glass that allowed to see, from the inside, to bathers while also playing miniature golf, bowling, billiards They danced to the disco. It gave Faith Prince Juan Carlos, Don Juan de Borbon, King Leka I of Albania, Pio Cabanillas, José María Pemán, Gregorio Maranon, Albano, Rita Pavone, Julio Iglesias, Don Murray and Real Madrid of the five cups Europe.
The Coastal Act now requires that all buildings rise behind the promenade separating the first front sand concrete. Los Arenales, cement battalion passed, long ago, that barrier. In Santa Pola, for example, houses the old port were ruthlessly overthrown in exchange for a handful of pesetas that do not equal the value of those residences, economic or emotional. Los Arenales has stood its buildings. Among them, the hotel become "a nest of rats and cats" regret resigned as neighbors and a perennial feature of the landscape. The company responsible for the works would prefer not to comment. The building officially will be reformed; unofficially, few pillars will remain standing: it is necessary (and cheaper) reconstruction will cost between eight and ten million euros.
Meanwhile, the locals celebrate the launch of the works. Alejandro Garcia is the new headman of Los Arenales, a political impromptu now acts as ambassador friendly hamlet. The neighbors have given the opportunity to be protagonist of a dream pursued for nearly four decades. "I feel privileged, yet I do not think so," he says with an easy smile that shows that the first gift this Christmas came in advance. He is 36 and has four living in the area. Any memory of this hotel will be very valuable ghost in the corner of nostalgia. The headman bag tile that have given workers saved. "They are pieces of history, as the Germans did the Berlin Wall," he says.
The hotel was born with four star and five services. And so it will, when reopened in 18 months, with 101 rooms. "Their activity will generate 40 direct jobs and 200 indirectly," boasts the new headman, Alejandro Garcia, who says he feels "privileged to lead the neighbors at the moment" historic "for your location. Los Arenales del sun hopes to serve as a magnet for other entrepreneurs willing to boost activity in the district, where tourism, according regrets Mercedes Oliva, hospitality area, is "very poor quality". "Here are weekenders, who put their towel for a month and go, "he adds resignedly awaiting the manna that brings foreign tourists. in summer 2017, the hotel guest book will write new pages in its history. the wait will worthwhile.
Regards all
John
