The Sierra Nevada ski resort is 100% ready to open with plenty of good snow yet they’re missing an essential  ingredient – skiers!

The businesses up there calculate that they will have lost around ten million because of being closed over this long, bank holiday.

They’re keeping their collective fingers crossed that they will be allowed to open this month, unlike many ski resorts in Europe that have been told to stay closed. They are also aware that in the best of cases, they will only receive skiers from within the region, as things stand, over Christmas.

So what have they missed this bank holiday compared with last year; 50,000 visitors to start with, of whom 37,000 were skiers plus another 13,000 simple visitors who had come for the views. In fact, during an average ski season they move about 500-million euros, according to Enrique de la Higuera, who is the chairman of the Asociación de Empresarios de Sierra Nevada.

So, whilst we lament our personal loss of freedom, a season’s profit is ‘melting away’ even as more snow settles.

(News: Sierra Nevada, Granada, Andalucia)