Spain was visited by 4.3 million international tourists in February, 35.9% more than in the same month of 2022, according to data from the National Statistics Institute (INE), which shows that these tourists spent 41.1% more than in the same month of the previous year, 5,326 million euros.
Tourism in Spain is recovering strongly and in the first two months of the year a total of 8.5 million visitors visited the country, which represents a 49.1% increase on the figure recorded in the same period a year earlier.
This increase in visitors was accompanied by an increase in spending. During the first two months of the year, the total expenditure of international tourists visiting Spain increased by 54.7% compared to the same period of the previous year, reaching 10,544 million euros. Compared to 2019, this figure is 12.9% higher.
For the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Héctor Gómez, “it is an exceptional start to the year for tourism, on the eve of Easter Week, when we expect to break records in terms of occupancy and spending”.
The United Kingdom continues to be the country that accounts for the most tourists to Spain, with 18.2% of the total.
In February a total of 784,496 Britons visited Spain, an increase of 35.6% compared to February of the previous year.
France and Germany were the next countries in terms of the number of visitors. France accounted for 636,530 (23.8% more in annual rate) and Germany 509,883 (30.9% more).
The United States market grew by 93.0%, Italy (44.0%) and Switzerland (42.8%).
A total of 8.5 million people visited Spain in the first two months of 2023, 49.1% more than in 2022 but still 1.3% below the figure recorded in the first two months of 2019, before the pandemic.
The main markets for the first two months of 2023 were the United Kingdom (over 1.5 million tourists and an annual increase of 61.9%), France (with over 1.1 million, and an increase of 30.2%) and Germany (with 988,142 tourists, up 47.2%).
And Mallorca continues to be the most popular destination in Spain for the Britons.