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.
DOLLAR CHALLENGE: BRICS countries’ growing share of global GDP threatens the US dollar’s dominance, which some member states seek to displace for world trade US president-elect Donald Trump on Saturday threatened 100 percent tariffs against a bloc of nine nations if they act to undermine the US dollar. His threat was directed at countries in the so-called BRICS alliance, which consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Turkey, Azerbaijan and Malaysia have applied to become members and several other countries have expressed interest in joining. While the US dollar is by far the most-used currency in global business and has survived past challenges to its preeminence, members of the alliance and other developing nations say they are fed
TECH COMPETITION: The US restricted sales of two dozen types of manufacturing equipment and three software tools, and blacklisted 140 more Chinese entities US President Joe Biden’s administration unveiled new restrictions on China’s access to vital components for chips and artificial intelligence (AI), escalating a campaign to contain Beijing’s technological ambitions. The US Department of Commerce slapped additional curbs on the sale of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and chipmaking gear, including that produced by US firms at foreign facilities. It also blacklisted 140 more Chinese entities that it accused of acting on Beijing’s behalf, although it did not name them in an initial statement. Full details on the new sanctions and Entity List additions were to be published later yesterday, a US official said. The US “will
COLLABORATION: The operations center shows the close partnership between Taiwan and Japan in the field of semiconductors, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo said Tokyo Electron Ltd, Asia’s biggest semiconductor equipment supplier, yesterday launched a NT$2 billion (US$61.5 million) operations center in Tainan as it aims to expand capacity and meet growing demand. Its new Taiwan Operations Center is expected to help customers release their products faster, boost production efficiency and shorten equipment repair time in a cost-effective way, the company said. The center is about a five-minute drive from the factories of its major customers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) advanced 3-nanometer and 2-nanometer fabs. The operations center would have about 1,000 employees when it is fully utilized, the company
Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has retired from the company and stepped down from its board of directors just as the company is in the middle of trying to execute a turnaround plan. Intel chief financial officer David Zinsner and Intel Products CEO Michelle Johnston Holthaus are serving as interim co-CEOs while the board searches for Gelsinger’s replacement, the company said in a statement. Frank Yeary, independent chair of the board of Intel, is to serve as interim executive chair, the company said. Gelsinger’s departure is hitting at a tumultuous time for the US chipmaker. Once the industry leader in
RSS