Spain is close to the tourist records of 2019. The arrival of foreign travelers was settled in July with 9.07 million international tourists, double that of last year and the equivalent of 92% of those who arrived before the pandemic.
The British are once again the largest arrivals (1.89 million), followed by the French (1.4 million) and Germans (1.09 million). The destination they prefer the most are the Balearic Islands, with 2.27 million tourists, followed by Catalonia and Andalusia.
It is much closer to recovering the expense they made. In July they left 11,869 million euros in the country, just 0.9% below the pre-covid expense, according to INE data published this Thursday. By country, until July 2 of every 10 euros spent are British. They are followed by the Germans, responsible for 13.5% of spending, and the French, for 8.7%. With regard to spending, 20.3% went to the Canary Islands, with 9,692 million in seven months, Catalonia (8,825 million) and the Balearic Islands (8,623 million).
Other metrics are already higher: on average they spend 170 euros a day, 6% more than in 2019, and in total they invest 1,309 euros, 8% more. This is because they extend the stay somewhat, with an average of 7.7 days compared to 7.6 in 2019, despite the fact that hotels are at record prices in key areas.
"These are extraordinary figures, all expectations have been met. The data for August are going to be equal to or better than those for July," said Fernando Valdés, Secretary of State for Tourism, in an intervention on the 24-hour channel. "Tourism resists the rise in prices well, it has not let inflation determine its consumption," he commented on the increase in costs.
Looking to the future, Valdés has been confident. "We have recovered international tourism, the main European issuers and we have also begun to recover long-haul -such as Asian tourists-. The forecasts confirm the good tone and behavior of the sector," he stated based on data from the airlines, although he acknowledged that the scenario is one of uncertainty.
For the total recovery, the pull of Asia -China, Japan, South Korea- is missing and to replace the Russian tourist. The Russian traveler has collapsed: it has gone from contributing 760,651 travelers in seven months in 2019 to just 31,400 today, 96% less.
