British holidaymakers accounted for 17 million visitors, followed by the French and German markets
A whopping total of 85 million tourists visited Spain last year spending more than 108 billion euros between them, according to latest figures.The all-time record is almost 19% more than 2022 and 2% more than before the Covid-19 pandemic in 2019, the best year for tourism, according to the data from the country’s INE national statistics agency (INE).The Canary Islands was the most popular destination among tourists in December, with 26.4% of the total number of visitors flocking there. It was followed by Catalonia (19.6%) and the Valencian region (13.7%). Hotel bookings increased by 16% and rental properties by almost 70%, the figures show.Visitors from the United States and Latin America soared by 40%, which is 30% more compared to 2022. In total, there were more than eight million tourists from the American continent, 3.86 million from the USA and more than 4.7 million visitors from Latin America, 17% more than those who came before the pandemic.Tourists spent a total of 108.662 billion euros last year in Spain, an increase of almost 25% compared to 2022. Brits spent the most last year, almost 20 billion euros, followed by Germany (13 billion) and France (almost 10 billion).The regions with the highest total expenditure in 2023 were Catalonia (with 20,878 billion, 26.7% more than in 2022), the Canary Islands (20,334 billion) and the Balearic Islands (17,722 billion).
Despite a surge in tourists from the Americas, the highest number of visitors in 2023 were the British, with more than 17 million visitors, 15% more than the previous year. They were followed by the French, with almost 12 million tourists and the Germans with 10.8 million tourists. Italian tourists increased by 21%, as did the arrival of Swiss tourists, the figures show.
