The Diplomat
International tourism in Spain experienced a 90% drop last November due to the pandemic, both in the arrival of travellers and in the total expenditure made by foreign tourists.
According to data published yesterday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), Spain received 456,956 international tourists in November, 90.2% less than in the same month in 2019, as a result of the pandemic and the travel restrictions imposed by many countries.
The biggest drop was in tourists from the United Kingdom, with 88,150 travellers, 19.3% of the total, and a decrease of 89.9% compared to November 2019. They are followed by Germany, with 76,322 tourists and 86.6% less in annual rate, and France, with 66,533 tourists and 88.4% less.
In addition, 18.3 million tourists visited Spain in the first eleven months of 2020, compared to 79.2 million in 2019, with a total decrease of 76.9%. The main countries of origin in the first eleven months of 2020 were France (over 3.7 million tourists and a decrease of 65.0% compared to the same period in 2019), the United Kingdom (with almost 3.1 million, and a decrease of 82.2%) and Germany (with over 2.3 million tourists, a decrease of 78.2%).
The Canary Islands, the main destination for tourists in November (35.2% of the total), recorded a decrease of 86.3% compared to November 2019, despite the decision of the German and British governments to lift travel restrictions to the archipelago last October due to the low incidence of coronavirus infections. In any case, the United Kingdom (32.3%) and Germany (28.9%) were in November, once again, the main emitters of travellers to the archipelago, whose high tourist season coincides with the winter months.
Catalonia and the Valencian Community, the next largest autonomous communities in terms of tourist numbers, recorded a fall of 94.4% and 90.0% respectively. In the first eleven months of 2020, the regions which received the most tourists were Catalonia (with almost 3.8 million and a 79.4% drop compared to the same period in 2019), the Canary Islands (with almost 3.6 million and a 70.0% drop) and Andalusia (with more than 2.6 million, a 76.9% drop).
On the other hand, the INE data reflects that the total expenditure made by international tourists who visited Spain in November was 467 million euros, which means a 90.8% decrease compared to the same month in 2019. The main sending countries in terms of the level of expenditure in November were the United Kingdom (with 21.2% of the total), Germany (18.6%) and France (8.3%). Expenditure by UK resident tourists fell by 87.9% in the annual rate, that of tourists from Germany by 86.0% and those from France by 88.8%.
The Autonomous Communities of main destination with the greatest weight in tourists’ expenditure in November were the Canary Islands (with 42.7% of the total), Andalusia (12.4%) and the Valencian Community (11.4%). Tourist expenditure fell by 86.6% in annual rate in the Canary Islands, 91.4% in Andalusia and 89.7% in the Valencian Community. The rest of the main tourist destination communities also showed negative annual rates.
