The number of people working in the tourism sector in the first quarter of this year rose by 19.6% compared by 2021, according to a Turespaña Spanish tourism agency report based on data from the latest Labour Force Survey.
Of the 118,266 workers in the sector, 99,083 were salaried and 19,182 were self-employed.
The tourism sector has seen the biggest increase in employees year-on-year at more than 21%, with an increase amongst wage earners of just over 8%. This means that more than 3,000 self-employed workers and nearly 8,000 salaried staff in the sector are now back at work. Nationwide, the average growth in employment was 10.1%.
The Balearics, Catalonia, Andalusia, Madrid, the Canary Islands and Valencia made up 74% of the total number of reinstated workers in Spain.
The Turespaña report does not include workers affected by the ERTE furlough scheme, whereby reinstatement was guaranteed after the Covid suspension period ended.
The Balearic minister for the economic model, tourism and employment, Iago Negueruela has said that most of the people still on ERTE in the Balearics work in the travel sector.
Most of the 'fijo discontinuo' workers were reinstated in March and April, as demanded by the government and unions.