The National Institute of Statistics (INE) has revealed that Spain received 13.7 million international tourists in the first three months of this year, which is an increase of 41.2% compared to the same period last year. From the beginning of January to the end of March, tourists spent a total of 17.2 billion euros, meaning an increase of 44.7% compared to the first quarter of 2022.
According to INE data, 5.3 million visitors came to Spain in March, which is a 30% increase compared to March 2022, and 6.6 billion, which is 31.1% more than a year ago.
The Ministry of Tourism said in a press release, “These data show that 2023 is being an extraordinary year for tourism, not only quantitatively, but also qualitatively, with higher spending and longer stays.”
During the month of March, the average expenditure per tourist was €1,266, with an annual increase of 0.7%, and as a result, average daily expenses increased by 6.6% to €168.
Meanwhile, regarding the stay, the average duration of international tourists’ trips was 7.6 days, which is almost exactly the same as last year.
The UK is still the dominant tourist market.
The INE figures also show that more travellers continue to come from the UK than any other country with 1.1 million visitors, and saw an increase of 29.4% in March this year compared to 2022.
In terms of the number of visits to Spain, the second and third places are occupied by France and Germany. 673,584 German tourists travelled to Spain in March, which is a 10.7% increase over last year, and 613,323 from France (+34.1%). The US had the biggest increase with 74.1% followed by Portugal, with 51.1% more, and Italy with 35.0%
The Canary Islands and Catalonia are the main destinations for tourists.
In total 24.1% of all visitors in March (1.3 million) went to the Canary Islands, which was the top destination for international visitors in March, representing an increase of 15.5%.
The INE stats also showed that the UK and Germany are the two main countries of residence for tourists visiting the islands, with 35.2% and 18.4% respectively.
The second highest region in terms of the number of international tourists is Catalonia (Barcelona) with 19.5%. They have also experienced strong growth compared to a year ago with 44.9% more tourists arriving this March than last year.
Andalucía (Costa del Sol) took third place with a total of 803,139 visitors in March and an annual increase of 31.7%. The main country of origin is the UK, with 26.6% of all visitors, followed by the Nordic countries with 10.1%.
Further INE data reveals that in the first three months of this year, the regions that received the most tourists are the Canary Islands, with more than 3.7 million (+30.9%), Catalonia with almost 2.8 million (+53.4%) and Andalusia with almost 2 million (+46.2).
