According to news reports from AFP, officials at the White House “denied on Sunday reports from Spanish media that US President Barack Obama and his family would take a holiday early August in the posh southern Spanish resort city of Marbella”.

The Obamas have an official schedule planning a “getaway” for the disaster struck US-Gulf Coast as well as the northeastern vacation spot off Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard said the White House officials.

Reports in Spanish online news media rumoured that the Obamas would visit Marbella from the 4th to the 8th August. The visit to Spain was to include a trip to the Royal Palace in Mallorca to meet with King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia.

The trip to Marbella was said to include a stay at the luxury resort Villa Padierna, part of the Ritz-Carlton Group of Hotels.