Spain received 75.3 million tourists in 2016

The new data exceeds those predicted by Exceltur and OMT
British, French and German, who visit Spain the most
The forecasts where short. According to Minister of Energy, Tourism and Digital Agenda, Alvaro Nadal, Spain has surpassed 75 million tourists in 2016 with exactly 75.3 million.

This is an increase of 9.9%. According to expenditure estimates, which INE will confirm next month, Spain will enter about 77,000 million, up 8% over 2015. The Minister of Energy, Tourism and Digital Agenda highlights this is the result of “the good work of a sector classified internationally as the most competitive in the world.”

On the other hand, tourist’s average expenditure would be 1.023 euros, 3.75% more than last year. In this regard, the minister has said that the positive trend is “clear”, both in days of stay and expenditure. A trend that is also reflected in the daily expenditure per tourist, which has risen from 113 to 138 euros per day.
By autonomous community, the one with more visits was Catalonia with 17 million visitors, 3.8% more than last year. Behind there are the Balearic Islands with 12.9 million tourists (+ 12%) and the Canary Islands with 12 million visitors (+ 12.7%).

During 2016, the main markets of tourists arriving in Spain were United Kingdom, France and Germany. United Kingdom, with 16.9 million tourists, 12.3% more, remained the main emitter of visitors. According to Nadal this means there has been no Brexit effect in 2016. Tourism has not resented neither growth nor volume. The Spanish government is going to prevent negotiate with the  UK facing its exit in order to avoid as much as possible any consequences in the English tourists coming to Spain. The British are followed by France, with 10.7 million visitors (+ 7.1%) and Germany with 10.7 million visitors (+ 6.1%)

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( Source : El Mundo: http://www.elmundo.es/economia/2017/01/12/587751a246163f6d518b4600.html)