Spain received a record number of foreign tourists last year, the government said on Friday, as the country’s key tourism sector made a strong rebound after years of disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The country welcomed over 84 million visitors last year, a 19 percent jump from 2022, Spanish Minister for Industry and Tourism Jordi Hereu told a news conference, calling last year a “very positive year, a record year” for tourism.
The figure was 1 percent higher than in 2019 — the last full year before global travel restrictions imposed to tackle the pandemic grounded the tourism sector — when Spain saw 83.7 million foreign visitors — a record at the time.
Photo: EPA-EFE
International visitors spent 108 billion euros (US$117.9 billion) in Spain last year, 17 percent higher than in 2019, Hereu said, helping the economy grow faster than most of its large eurozone peers.
Spain is on track for another jump in tourist arrivals this year, he said, with projections suggesting it would receive 23.2 million foreign visitors in the first quarter — 11 percent higher than the same period a year earlier.
Spanish travel industry association Exceltur on Wednesday predicted that tourism revenues this year would surpass 200 billion euros for the first time, up from 187 billion euros last year, adding that the “perceived insecurity” in rival markets in the eastern Mediterranean such as Egypt, resulting from the Israel-Hamas war, should help drive up foreign visitors to Spain in winter.
Spain is the world’s second-most visited country after France, and tourism is crucial for its domestic economy, comprising 12.8 percent of GDP last year, Exceltur figures show.
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