Castellón port welcomes 106,000 visitors thanks to a record-breaking edition of “Escala a Castelló”

09-04-2024. “The seventh edition of ‘Escala a Castelló’ together with the ‘Fin de Semana Marinero’ initiative has been a record with 106,000 visitors, a success on all levels”. That was how it was summed up by the Mayoress, Begoña Carrasco, last Tuesday at the press conference to review the nautical event which was held in the Grao de Castellón from 5 to 8 April and that recorded 7% more visitors than in 2023, which ended with 99,000 visitors.

The mayoress was accompanied by the Deputy Mayor of Grao, Ester Giner and the Councillor for Tourism, Arantxa Miralles; the Director of the Organising Committee of Escala a Castelló, Fernando Viota and the head of Security of the Port Authority, Luis Oria.

“This edition started by breaking records with the participation of a total of 12 vessels: 8 historic and 4 institutional. Never before had so many boats come to Castellón, so the expectation was already high even before the start and has ended up surpassing its success by far”, said the mayoress.

Carrasco thanked all those who had contributed to making the event a success. “I would like to congratulate the event organisation for managing to exceed our expectations, which were already very high; the work coordinated by the Grao and Tourism councils so that everyone could enjoy a premium nautical event and the Port Authority for improving the Port-City link that works so well”.

The mayoress highlighted the efforts made to improve events such as this year’s “Escala a Castelló”, which has borne fruit “because after many years, the city is open to the sea once again with the best tourist showcase to attract visitors from all over the world, our Grao”.

Proof of this was the “Fin de Semana Marinero” initiative that the local government has promoted to complement the nautical event, involving traders and hoteliers from the maritime district. This is the case of the market “Comerços a la mar” with a dozen stalls from shops from the Grao in Paseo Buenavista that joined the “Escala a Castelló” programme. “The traders have welcomed the experience, to the point that they are already considering repeating the experience next year”, the mayoress said.

Begoña Carrasco said that “it has been a great success because it has boosted the local economy and the Grao has benefitted from it, which is what we are looking for through the regeneration of the maritime district, with the economic impact that this type of event brings and which on this occasion had an estimated value of more than 3 million euros, which has allowed us to revitalise the Grao, position ourselves in terms of tourism and diversify our offer, which is precisely what we have been working on since we started”.

A very safe and clean event

 Begoña Carrasco wanted to highlight the good coordination between all the security and health services, both those made available by the event organisation itself, as well as the Port Authority and the rest of the security forces, including the local police, “who have been on top of everything during these five days, from the arrival of the boats on Thursday, and who have made this seventh edition of ‘Escala a Castelló’ a success”.

In this regard, in terms of security, after analysing the services with the Port Authority, we can conclude that there have been few incidents. “We are talking about some aid for cases of fainting, dizziness, lost children who were quickly returned to their parents or interventions in terms of traffic regulation in car parks and traffic management in the port area”. And in general, “we should also highlight the efficiency of the cleaning services provided, in this case, by the event organisation”.

Foreign visitors

Throughout the event, the maritime district has been a constant procession of visitors from different parts of the province of Castellón and Valencia, especially on the holiday Monday of San Vicente. From Paterna, Alacuás, Carcaixent, Alboraya, Canet, among other towns.

And also, foreign visitors – French, Belgian, Dutch and even Canadian.  An impressive fact is that the Monday of San Vicente was a very good day in terms of the number of visitors from towns where it was a public holiday, apart from the more than 300 pupils from five schools and one secondary school in Castellón with their teachers and 30 users from the Frater association, with reduced mobility.

Impact on the hospitality industry

The nautical event has been a great economic boost. Restaurants in the maritime district have had a high level of reservations both at lunchtime and in the evening. The Hotel Herreros and the Hotel RH Silene have been at 70% and 75% occupancy, respectively. “The restaurants have seen around 15% more turnover thanks to ‘Escala a Castelló’ and the ‘Fin de Semana Marinero’, which has allowed them to show off the best of our gastronomy”, says Carrasco.

“This tourist offer has helped us to show off all our attractions, and this year we have also managed to have all our beach services operational since Easter, along with the beach bars on the beaches of Gurugú and El Pinar, which for years have had to open later than other neighbouring towns, losing opportunities and revenue”, said the mayoress.

Media impact

She also mentioned the media impact, saying “we have made national news, with reports on La Sexta, Telecinco and Cuatro. A very important visibility that helps us to make Castellón not just a stopover but an established tourist destination, and the coverage of the local media that has helped to publicise the event showing all its attractions has also been very important”.