The Imserso trips that retirees were going to start taking in Spain next October have been suspended. This was dictated a few days ago by the Central Administrative Court of Contractual Resources (TACRC), which decided to keep the three lots planned for the 2023-2024 season frozen. However, all those pensioners who have wanted to travel have various alternatives that they should know about.
Soltour, Nautalia and Mundiplan filed an appeal for the exclusive award to Avoris since, in their opinion, the offers presented have not been scored in accordance with the provisions of the contracting documents. Given this, the company that won the three Imserso lots has also presented allegations against these resources.
Until the agency issues a ruling, sales of the new contest will not be launched. Thus, the resources of these three consortia will delay the 2023-2024 campaign, which this year has nearly 900,000 seats and whose sale was scheduled to start between mid-September and early October.
When could Imserso trips recover?
The Court has justified that “the analysis of the reasons underlying the filing of the aforementioned appeals shows that the damages that could arise from lifting the suspension are difficult or impossible to repair, so it is appropriate for the man to agree to the maintenance of the suspension”, as stated in the minutes of the State Contracting Platform.
Everything indicates that this suspension could last between two and three months, which is the estimated time for the agency dependent on the Ministry of Finance and Public Function to issue the ruling. However, this does not have to affect the number of places that were initially offered, although everything will depend on how many hotels work for the program and travel demand.
The truth is that a similar situation was already experienced in the 2015-2016 and 2021-2022 seasons: while, in the first, the trips were delayed until November, in the second they did not start until January due, above all, to the pandemic.
The best alternatives to Imserso trips
Despite the suspension of Imserso trips, retired people do not have to be left without discovering other parts of the national territory. The Court could have three options: start the process again, if it considers that the award is erroneous, ratify the award to avoris of the three packages, or divide them between the three companies.
But, apart from this, pensioners have different alternatives that, although they are not so economical, are attractive. One of them is Mundosenior, which includes offers with prices similar to those of Imserso and trips to the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands, the peninsular coast, cultural circuits, circuits around Europe, river cruises and Portugal. This temporary union of companies between Viajes Barceló and Viajes Halcón establishes the requirement of being over 55 years old. In some cases, it includes transfers, full board, travel insurance, accompanying guide and health care. The deadline to sign up for trips that begin next September 20 is now open.
Viajes El Corte Inglés organizes different offers throughout the year, through its senior Vacation Club program. They have extensive experience in these trips for people over 60 years of age.
Another option is the offers for seniors launched by the autonomous communities. An example is that, at the beginning of 2023, the Community of Madrid launched its ‘Cultural Routes for Seniors’ program, with more than 300,000 places and more than 1,000 destinations, aimed at those over 55 years of age. In turn, in Castilla y León there is ’60’s Club Trips’, which includes 29 national and international destinations for people who have already reached six decades of life.
