The Baqueira Beret ski resort, in Val d’Aran (Lleida), the largest in Spain with 173 skiable kilometers, faces the season with 800 employees and an accommodation plan to guarantee the quality of service and avoid the structural problem of lack of accommodation. The Baqueira-Beret Group has imagined solutions to accommodate its temporary staff in suitable conditions with total commitment to management. So, they rented hotels, Airbnb apartments and other accommodation throughout the valley, but especially in what is called lower Aran, in places like Les and Bòssost. Establishments with low attendance during the winter season are less advantageous, but notably reduce the supply of places and make prices more expensive. They are also fighting against the lack of housing in the consistory of Naut Aran — to which Baqueira belongs — with the commitment to build 60 floors, and the General Council of Aran — the autonomous body of the valley — which, among other things, is negotiating the acquisition or transfer of the former Guardia Civil district.
Baqueira Beret, a preferred destination for winter sports, rich in gastronomic offers, is the economic engine of Val d’Aran, with some 10,600 inhabitants. The resort, 61 years old, initially favored hotel occupancy throughout the valley, from the border to the slopes. With the expansion and modernization of its services and the hotel boom in Baqueira, the towns between Vielha and Francia have seen a notable decline in reservations and income, especially in restaurants and commerce, from French tourism. Hotels, in winter, apart from Semana Santa, certain bridges and Christmas, have difficulty filling rooms and some prefer to close because they have more expenses than income.
Taking advantage of this situation, Baqueira, which opened on the first day of December and closed on April 6, is strengthening the program started last year and has rented hotels in Les, Bòssost and other villas in Garòs, Vielha or Salardú. “We are trying to stop working because there is no place to sleep,” explains Xavi Ubeira, commercial director of Baqueira. More than 40% of the population resides in the region, but for years the difficulties in housing the rest have been comparable to those of the Costa Brava or Ibiza. For Ubeira, the imagined system “benefits both hoteliers and owners who rent their accommodation with the security of their payments, and tenants with the housing guarantee which secures their work”.
He emphasizes that “the contract is signed with Baqueira Beret, giving security to both parties, while ensuring possible improvements and maintenance, ensuring optimal condition for tenants”. As long as the program arrives, there remains the rental of the nominative and on the way down they start a bus which takes a series of mornings and returns at half past five. In addition, since last year, the Town Hall has made a mid-range bus available for those who finish later. This concerns more than a hundred workers who work in the mountains, because employees of restaurants and hostels in general, by agreement, must provide accommodation. Thus, more than 200 people are accommodated between a plan of the renovated Montarto Hotel, near the slopes, and the bungalows which built the station in the district.
Naut Aran —joins the decentralized municipal entities of Garòs, Tredós, Arties, Gessa, Bagergue, Salardú, Baqueira and Unha—, aware of the serious housing situation and to offer an alternative and avoid realities like those of temporary residents living in campers in parking lots —now it is prohibited—, promotes housing for them and for young people without resources to emancipate themselves. In 2023, a modification was approved for the use of a plot of land of 1,800 m² — around Baqueira 1,500 Park — as a public facility to build four blocks of 60 floors of 30 m² which would benefit approximately 120 people. “In 2024, the land will be purchased from an individual and in the coming months it will be necessary to obtain final authorization to be able to submit it to a public call for tenders,” indicates the Consistorio. The land is municipal, but a cooperative management or concession of 75 years is proposed between businessmen from Baqueira and Naut Aran, to realize the project. The hypothesis is 5.5 million euros.
For its part, the Town Hall also took a lot of imagination to create a villa throughout the valley, designed for seasonal workers, so that it could not be protective. For example, he negotiated with the Interior the purchase of the transfer of the former headquarters of the Guardia Civil, where the police suite of King Juan Carlos I was located, and which had been disused for decades. This building, between Baqueira 1.500 and the land acquired by Naut Aran, should be rehabilitated and adapted into housing. In both cases, an affordable price will be regulated.
Tourist advisor Josep Canut appreciates Baqueira’s efforts to find accommodation for his staff and the way he does it, “because this is how low-season hotels can be opened with few complications.” He recognizes that it reduces the supply in the area, but believes that “this is the path that is profitable for the hostels”. For more than a month, no places have been available in the area and the rental of accommodation near the 4th or 5th day could exceed 1,800 euros. Canut is concerned about the limited supply that exists in general, “urban speculation has grown a lot, buying houses at low prices and leaving others at a loss, because they know they can buy them at par. That’s why prices are soaring in the Bajan,” he says.
Villas for Tourist Use (HUT) are proliferating throughout the valley. The Government declared 414 illegal in Lleida; The mitad, 205, is concentrated in Naut Aran, where of the 4,800 existing housing units, only 16.6% are first residences.
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