66% increase in arrivals and 72% increase in expenditures compared to last year

Tourism in Spain improves the pulse of the pre-pandemic years. The 4.1 million tourists in January this year. improved on the 2020 figures, albeit slightly (0.2%). But the real increase can be seen in total expenditure, which reached 5,218 million euros5,218 million, which is 9.2% above the year of the pandemic.

These are some of the data published this Friday at the National Institute of Statistics on data on tourist movements at borders and the tourist expenditure survey, relating to January this year.

With the data for this month of January, our country received. 4.1 million international touristsi.e., 65.8% more than in the same month of 2022.. This growth is accompanied by 5,218 million in spending, also an increase of 71.7%.

Thus, among the more than 4 million tourists who visited Spain, the main country of origin is the United Kingdom with 742,212 tourists, representing 17.9% of the total and an increase of 103.6% compared to January 2022.

France and Germany are the next countries with more tourists visiting our country, being 485,116 French (up 39.6% in annual rate) and 478,258 Germans (up 69.6%). Another of the most outstanding increases is that of tourists from the U.S.A., which increased by 102.8%.

Canary Islands, favorite destination

The autonomous community preferred by tourists in January was the Canary Islands, with 29% of the total. Catalonia (19.2%) and Andalusia (13.8%) were the next favorite destinations for foreigners. The largest increase occurred in the Community of Madrid (113.1) and Andalusia (76.8%).

One of the most representative data is the great predilection of Germans to visit the Balearic Islands, as well. 50.2% of them choose it as their first destination.. In second position, 33.2% of the British travel to the Canary Islands.

Regarding the entry route of tourists, more than 3.5 million come to Spain by airport.a figure that has increased by 73.5% in the last year. The large increase in transport by port (139.4%) and by rail (53.6%) is noteworthy.

Why do tourists come to Spain?

The ‘Leisure, recreation and vacations‘ was the main reason for travel to Spain for 3.4 million tourists in January, an annual increase of 70.3%. For ‘Business, professional reasons’ 267,551 arrived (up 80.4%) and for ‘Other reasons’ 459,016 (up 33.5%).