The huge drop in the number of weddings in Valencia has turned the entire industry built around it into shreds.
The Covid-19 pandemic has affected our lives and businesses in a variety of ways. Nothing is the same anymore. Recently published figures from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) have informed us that the number of weddings in Valencia has also plummeted. According to this report, between January and June 2020 there were only 3,505 marriages registered in La Comunidad Valenciana, the lowest in the first half of the year since 1975.
Some of the detailed information shows how dramatic the fall was. For example, in April 2020, only 50 new marriages were registered compared to 1,265 in the previous year, while in May, a traditionally good month to organise a wedding, only 174 couples decided to move forward compared to 1,879 in 2019.
Most people postponed their ceremonies to the next year. But what seemed to be a distant future at the time turned out not to be. Now there is another wave of cancellations, and new dates are set for 2022.
The problem is not stopping right there. Many of the marriages already concluded have not been transformed into events with the guests. Due to various restrictions at that time, only a few people were present at some of the ceremonies. Even the most lavish weddings always had a limit on how many people could attend.
This has completely destroyed the wedding industry, many companies that rely on these types of events for their survival, not only restaurants, wedding venues, hotels, but also wedding organisers, gift shops, wedding dress shops and finally photographers. In view of the fact that the Fallas Festival has not been held for two years in a row, we can safely say that this situation has been particularly difficult for photographers.
The figures are probably not going to be any better for the rest of 2020 and for the whole of 2021. Obviously, this will have an enormous impact not only on the economy, but also on demographics, but, as with many more effects of the pandemic, we will only find out how great the implications will be in the years to come.
If there is any consolation, with a reduction of around 56%, La Comunidad Valenciana is far from the worst. In Extremadura, Madrid and Castilla-La Mancha, the number of marriages decreased by more than 66%. The worst affected provinces in Spain were Toledo, Cuenca and Ciudad Real, with a drop of more than 72%.
© Weddings in Valencia – Waiting For A Better Time – TheValencian
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