«Toledo is not a expensive city; There is a variety of quality and prices »

Tomás Palencia, Without a rival since 2017, another four years will continue defending the almost 600 hoteliers in the province At a crucial moment in this key sector in Toledo’s economy, with the prices shot, the proliferation of tourist floors and a new tourism model marked by the presence of Puy Du Fou, which has revolutionized this business in the area in a few years. He says that Toledo is not a expensive city, that there is a variety of prices and defends the hoteliers of this land that “they are giving size in quality and innovation.”

-Other four more years and with the total support of their colleagues. What moves you to continue in the fight?

-I don’t like to leave things halfway; I think we have done a good job, which still has things to develop, and with my team we decided to renew and have supported us again. I would like to think that the sector believes we are doing well. I think I am a very constant person at work and I always try to fight for the sector.

-In these years he had to deal with the pandemia, which seriously injured his sector. What have you learned from those days?

-They was very complicated, a bit chaotic. Our sales fell, but it was also a time when the issue of associations became meaning; We needed to have direct interlocutors with the administrations to know what we could do or what we could, if we could open, with what capacity … we were gathered, those of Toledo, with the Minister of Tourism, Reyes Maroto. Thank God, we returned to normal in a relatively short space of time and the bars were again bars, because here we are bar people.

-Mormality has not reached prices, which are shot.

-The pandemic is not to blame; It’s already passed. What has been triggered has been the great inflation that we are suffering, and that in Spain we have raised those prices. I think we will not return to the prices we had before, but because our raw material will not return to those prices either. In the end, we have business and we have to make them viable. If we buy the most expensive things, we have to sell them more faces. Everyone knows that olive oil, a barbarity. Only three years ago the liter was bought. Many hoteliers, as I said, have to do an authentic work of economic engineering to reach the end of the month.

-But the Toledos complain that Toledo is a face in relation to others in their surroundings; It is difficult to find a beer for less than three euros.

-There are everything, as in other cities in Spain. In Toledo we have a variety of qualities and prices. Not only do you have to think about the drink, but also in the appetizer, or if you are taking it in the Champs Elysees or next to the Toledo Cathedral. I think we have a lot of pricing in the city and in the province.

-And quality, how do you value it?

-Toledo has improved a lot. There is great innovation in bars, restaurants and throughout the hospitality offer; We have grown a lot in quality. We have been very focused for a few years, the competition has made us innovate and we have given a gastronomic identity to the city of Toledo, taking advantage of our nearest pantry.

-Has the public become more demanding too?

-The public is increasingly demanding; It is our bastion and the client, in the end, seeks quality and experience. Toledo is gaining the reputation of having a lot of diversity to choose from, and there are restaurants that bet a lot for quality food.

-How has Toledo changed in these eight years of his term?

-Toledo has changed a lot, among other things because a new actor has arrived, an already habitual actor in Toledo: Puy Du Fou, who is bringing us a lot of people and family tourism that we did not have before. Before we had the cultural, the religious, the gastronomic, but we did not have that family tourism that did not come because there was no leisure that excited young people and the children.

-Do you worry that Puy du Fou opens hotels in the park?

-To contrary, if they open hotels that means that more people will come, which benefits us. In addition, it can help lower prices and reduce the tension of finding accommodation in Toledo at certain times of the year. I don’t know many people who come alone to visit Puy Du Fou; If they come to the park, they also usually spend time visiting the city.

-Are the hoteliers behave at height?

-The hoteliers, if we can presume something, it is that we adapt to the times and we have known how to adjust to this moment in the history of Toledo. We are up to any other tourist city.

-The hospitality is much more than bars and restaurants.

-Clear. Within the association, we represent the four most important sectors of the hospitality: cafeteria, restaurant, night leisure and hotels. Therefore, we will create specific commissions to deal with the problems and needs of each sector. The problems of a hotel that those of a cafeteria or a restaurant are not equal. We have to be operational so that, when gathering in the Executive Committee, we can address those needs in a concrete and efficient way, without eternalizing in debates.

-He has also mentioned that he wants to open the doors.

-A of our concerns is to make an association of open doors, trying to mobilize all hoteliers. They cannot look elsewhere or say “this does not go with me”, because in the end, if we negotiate with the City Council, for example, an ordinance of occupation of public roads, we do it for everyone. I want the association to be bigger and stronger, because the union is strength and, together, we can go much further. Therefore, we have called for the hospitality entrepreneurs of Toledo and province to raise their concerns. We want an open doors association, because together we go further. It is not trivial to make a call to the participation of all hoteliers. The partners cannot think that the association is an entity outside them.

-What the relations with the City Council of Toledo?

-We have a very good relationship, without any problem.

-How has Holy Week worked in high season?

-We have had a Holy Week that we can say that it has been good. It is our high season, together with the bridge of the Constitution and the Purísima.

-Despite the rain?

-He has had to look at the sky a lot, but we have had a good Holy Week, almost as good as that of 2024. They shake hands.

-Is there no low season in Toledo?

-In Toledo tourism has stabilized a lot and the low season has practically disappeared. However, it depends a lot on the type of establishment; If you have terrace or not. The average season is still in summer, because it is not pleasant to walk around the city with 40 degrees, and at that time the main destinations are the beaches. In my case, an inner grill in the middle of summer is not attractive, but there is much diversity. In addition, Puy Du Fou has helped stabilize this tourism, since it is open in summer and attracts a lot of public.

-And the future of the hospitality in Toledo?

-Our fight is to continue growing, stay in the line we carry, growing little by little, but with a firm and constant step.