The Diplomat
Spain was visited by more than 9.8 million tourists from other countries in the first seven months of the year, which is 25.8% less than in the same period in 2020, when 13.2 million people arrived, due to the situation caused by the coronavirus, according to data published yesterday by the National Statistics Institute (INE).
Spending in Spain up to July by tourists visiting from abroad stood at 10,996 million euros, 23.2% less than in the same period in 2020.
The main countries of origin for these seven months were: France, with nearly 2.1 million tourists and an increase of 1.8% compared to the same period in 2020, and Germany, with almost 1.9 million and an increase of 6.4%. The rest of Europe, with more than 1.1 million tourists, was up 0.3%.
Almost half of the visitors (nearly 4.4 million) came to Spain in July, an increase of 78.3% over the same month in 2020.
In that month, France was the main country of residence, with 874,189 tourists, representing 19.9% of the total and an increase of 46.6% over July 2020.
Germany and the United Kingdom are the next countries with the most tourists visiting Spain in July. Specifically, Germany contributed 707,331 visitors, 64.5% more in annual rate, and the United Kingdom 555,183, 46.5% more.
However, the German market was the country with the highest cumulative expenditure, with 19.4% of the total, followed by France, with 13.8%, and the United Kingdom, with 8.8%.
In the first seven months of 2021 the communities that received the most tourists were: Balearic Islands (with almost 2.6 million and an increase of 152% over the same period of 2020), Catalonia (with almost 1.8 million and a decrease of 34.9%) and Andalusia (with more than 1.2 million, 35.4% less).
