Work begins on the tourist hostel in the old Lucena station

The Lucena City Council has begun the adaptation works on the central building of the old railway station to convert it into a tourist hostel. The project has an expected execution period of nine months and is included in the Integrated Action Plan (PAI) of Lucena, with co-financing from the European Union through ERDF funds.

The accommodation will have 34 places distributed across six rooms of different sizes. The facilities will have a reception and tourist information area, an office, a kitchen, a laundry room and a space for a social lounge and dining room. The bedrooms will be located on the upper floor and the building will have walkable terraces. The building dates back to 1891. The hostel is intended for people travelling the Vía Verde and the Camino Mozárabe de Santiago, as well as for groups carrying out youth, school or sports activities.

Alongside the works, the City Council is studying the hostel's management model, which is still to be defined. The option initially under consideration is a concession to a company that would be responsible for running the accommodation. In addition, the contracting of furniture and the rest of the equipment needed for opening will have to be arranged, as they are not included in this works contract. The mayor of Lucena, Aurelio Fernández, accompanied by the councillor for Works, Javier Pineda, and representatives of the awarded company, Sabán Construcciones, has visited the building. Fernández has stated that the hostel will allow the area around Parque Europa «to offer one more tourist resource to our city», linked to the Vía Verde and the Camino Mozárabe, «with growing acceptance and publicity, which means that it is becoming common to see pilgrims in the centre of Lucena on their way to other destinations».