Tourism is going from strength to strength at the gates of the summer season and is confirmed as one of the main engines of the Spanish economy. The spending of foreign tourists shot up 15.8% between January and May in relation to the same period in 2019, before the outbreak of the Covid pandemic that turned the sector upside down, forcing it to completely stop its activity. In the first five months of the year, international travelers abandoned 35,405 million euros in the country, almost 32% more than a year earlier. The striking thing about this figure is that it is achieved despite the fact that the arrival figures prior to the health crisis have not yet been recovered.
According to the data made public this Tuesday by the National Institute of Statistics in its Frontur survey, until May 29.2 million international tourists visited Spain, 28% more than for the same dates last year but still 0.4%. below precovid levels. United Kingdom (with close to 5.8 million tourists and an annual increase of 23.7%), France (more than 3.9 million and an increase of 28.1%) and Germany (with more than 3.7 million , 15% more) remained on the podium of the main issuers of travelers to the country.
By destinations, from January to May, Catalonia remained the main destination for tourists in the first five months of the year, accumulating the arrival of almost 6.1 million, a figure that represents an increase of 37.5% compared to the same period in 2022. They are followed by the Canary Islands (with almost 5.9 million and an increase of 21%) and Andalucía, to whose territory nearly 4.4 million foreign travelers arrived, 31.7% more than last year.
