Spain is being visited by more people from abroad this year than ever before, despite growing protests against mass tourism in the country.
The national statistics agency INE reported in Madrid on Monday that the number of visitors through July 31 had risen by about 12% compared to the same period last year, reaching a record of almost 53.4 million.
Spending by tourists and business travellers rose by almost 19% to around €71.1 billion. In July alone, Spain was visited by 10.9 million people from abroad, 7.3% more than in July 2023, INE said.
They spent over €15.5 billion in the country, almost 12% or €1.7 billion more than the previous year, which was a record high for July.
Once again, it was mainly visitors from Great Britain who broke the records, with a total of 10.5 million visitors between January 1 and July 31. That is an increase of 8.6% compared to the same period last year.
They were followed by the French with over seven million (an increase of 10.6%) and the Germans with 6.8 million (an increase of 10.1%).
The most visited region was Catalonia with almost 11.5 million visitors, followed by the Balearic Islands (just over 8.7 million), the Canary Islands (just under 8.7 million) and Valencia (just under 6.8 million).
Visitor numbers to Spain had been rising steadily for years before the coronavirus pandemic slowed them down, but records have been broken again since 2022.
In recent months, demonstrations have taken place in holiday resorts such as Mallorca, Barcelona, Málaga and the Canary Islands.
The rapidly growing housing shortage, attributed to the increase in holiday homes, is particularly annoying for locals. Traffic congestion, noise and dirt are also major concerns.
Tourism accounts for almost 14% of Spain’s gross domestic product (GDP), but in some regions that percentage is considerably higher. In Mallorca and the rest of the Balearic Islands, for example, it is around 35%.
