A study by the Centre for Economic Forecasting - "Brexit 2016: Exposure of regional communities to the British economy" - has found that the Balearics and the Canaries will be the regions most affected. Between the two they represent half the number of overnight stays made by the 15.5 million British tourists who come to Spain.
The report indicates that an 11% depreciation in the value of the pound in the space of a fortnight will directly affect British visitors' spending power. The consequent loss of revenue will be particularly difficult for the Balearics and the Canaries, given that British tourists provide a quarter of hotel business.
Meanwhile, on Thursday there was a convening of the Tourism Advisory Council which brought together the Balearic government and others, including representatives of UK tour operators. Tourism minister Biel Barceló noted the findings of a different report - from market researchers GfK Insights - which show a 25% increase in value from British bookings between June and September: an additional 168 million euros and over 140,000 more passengers.
The short term, therefore, looks very good, but Barceló added that efforts at November's World Travel Market in London will be beefed up. Promotion will be enhanced by the Balearics having its own stand (rather than being part of Turespaña's), while there will be specific meetings with tour operators to analyse the impact of Brexit. Without detailing what other promotional efforts there are to be, Barceló said that "actions" will be taken. There is to be a study of British tourist travel habits in introducing new means of attracting visitors, while a PR firm in the UK is to be taken on. The minister indicated that there will be specific efforts on behalf of Minorca, which has a greater percentage reliance on British tourism than the other islands.
Although the government will be keeping a close watch on the effects of the fall in the pound, Barceló noted that depreciation against the euro has occurred previously in the past ten years and the number of British tourists has continued to increase.