Report for 2013/2014 Ski season - sierra nevada
The 2013/2014 ski season started earlier than planned, on 23 November 2013, and finished on 4 May 2014. The season lasted 163 days, with four total days of complete closure and two days of partial closure due to poor weather conditions - the second-longest season in history.
The total number of skiers for the season was 781,227, with a further 137,061 visitors using the lifts and recreational area of Mirlo Blanco, making a total of 918,288. The total figure is 1.3% up on the previous season (1.2% down on skiers, and 18% up on other visitors).
The weather throughout the 2013/2014 season was challenging, especially December, January and February, with more than 28% less precipitation than the previous season.
The Christmas period (23 December 2013 to 6 January 2014) was difficult, with little snow from the Puente de la Constitucion right through to Christmas, resulting in 112,469 skiers, plus 20,060 other visitors, 10.5% down on the previous year. The resort was closed on Christmas day due to high winds, and varied from 16km of runs open before Christmas, to 50km open at Reyes, with three of the four Sulayrpark sections being open by early January.
The busiest month was February, with 192,509 skiers.
Again, like previous years, the majority of visitors - 82.9%, up from last year - were from inside Spain. Over 70% were from Andalucia - mainly Granada province, followed by Malaga and Seville - and 8.3% from Madrid.
The foreign share of visitors was 17.1%, down on last year, with the majority coming from Portugal (35.5%), followed by the UK (26.5%); Germany, Russia, France, and the US made up the majority of remaining non-Spanish visitors.
Interesting new data for this season, on foreigners residing in Spain who visited Sierra Nevada, showed that the majority came from Malaga province (41.7%), followed by Granada (25%), and Murcia and Madrid, each with 8.3%.
