ALEXANDRIA - Holiday-makers are enjoying themselves in the Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria, as the first post-Mubarak summer season has started with jubilation and happiness, holidaymakers say. Alexandria's beaches have long been a magnet for Egyptian and Arab holiday-makers seeking sea, cool air and sand each summer. “We love spending our summer holidays in this marvellous city - Alexandria,” Souad Hussein, a holiday-maker relaxing on Maamoura Beach, enthusiastically says. “My three sons rent beach bikes every night.” Alexandria is famous for its fantastic coast, the longest of any summer resort in Egypt, stretching for about 40km from Abou Qir to Sidi Kreir along the North Coast. “The instability following the revolution has slightly affected the occupancy rates in the Maamoura district, as only 60 per cent of flats are occupied,” says Hamdi Abdel-Rahman, a broker. “In addition, the summer season is very short, because the holy fasting month of Ramadan begins in early August,” he adds. “The entry fees have been cancelled on all of Alexandria's 18 beaches, except for Beau Rivage and Stanley, located near the centre of Alex,” explains Mohamed Hussein, the head of the Central Administration of Travel and Resorts. “We have ordered the beaches' leaseholders to provide the citizens with all the services they need. Each holiday-maker only has to pay LE2 for these services.” For 30 years, officials in Mubarak's regime exploited the people's facilities. “Safwat el-Shereif, the former Secretary-General of the dissolved former ruling National Democratic Party, has a residence near Caribiano Beach, while a number of prominent Arab officials used to spend their holidays on this and other private beaches. Now the revolutionaries have ousted a despotic regime with its unjust policies, ordinary citizens can use the private beaches such as Oxygen, Caribiano, La Plage and Bianci, located in western Alexandria's Agami district, free of charge,” adds Hussein.
