7.9 million tourists visited Spain in May
Spain received a massive 7.9 million international tourists in May, 11.7% more than in the same month last year.
As usual, the UK was the main country of origin with over 2 million Brits arriving in Spain in May. This represents 25.7% of the total number of visitors, an increase of 14% when compared to May 2016. Despite Brexit, the British still appear to see Spain as their number 1 holiday choice.
German and French tourists were the next most numerous with 1.1 million Germans and just over 1 million French visitors, according to data released by the INE.
Visitors from the United States showed significant growth with 43.2% more visiting than last year. Also, there was an increase of 20.1% in the number of Irish visitors, and a 13.2% increase in the number of Italian visitors.
Primary Destination
The community of Catalonia was the main tourist destination in May with 23.8% of the total. The Balearic Islands saw 21.6% of the total, while Andalucía attracted 14.7% of the total visitors.
Catalonia handled almost 1.9 million tourists, a 16.2% increase when compared to May last year. The main countries of origin for these tourists were France (25%), and the UK (12.8%).
The number of tourists visiting the Balearic Islands increased by 6.4% to stand at a little over 1.7 million. 35.1% came from Germany, while 31.6% were from the UK.
Andalucía received 1.2 million tourists in May, annual growth of 7.1%. The UK was the main country of origin with 29.4% of the total. Nordic countries were the next most numerous with 12.3% of the total.
Other autonomous communities to see significant growth include Valencia with an 18.9% increase, Madrid with an 11.4% increase and the Canary Islands with a 10.5% increase.
Jan to May
When looking at the first five months of this year the number of tourists has reached 28 million, an 11.6% increase when compared to the same period in 2016.
Over the same period, Spain has received 6.4 million British tourists, an increase of 10.9% over the first five months of 2016. German tourists increased by 7.6% with more than 4 million visitors. French visitors from Jan to May numbered 3.9 million, an increase of 5%.
The communities to receive the bulk of the tourists over the first five months are Catalonia (more than 6.6 million), the Canary Islands (more than 5.9 million), Andalucía (more than 4 million).
