July marked a historic month for Spain’s tourism sector, with the country setting new records in visitor numbers and overall spending.
Data from the National Statistics Institute (INE) revealed that Spain welcomed 10.1 million international tourists in July 2023 a growth of 11.4% compared to the same period in 2022 and 2.6% more than the peak month of July 2019.
Tourist spending also saw a significant uptick, reaching €13.853 billion in July alone—a 16.4% increase from last year and a 16% boost over 2019 levels.
From January to June 2023, Spain played host to 47.6 million tourists, which is a 20.9% increase from the previous year. The total spending during this period amounted to €59.864 billion, a surge of 25.3% compared to 2022 and 14.7% higher than in 2019.
Acting Minister of Industry, Trade, and Tourism, Héctor Gómez, expressed his enthusiasm over the impressive numbers, pointing out the unprecedented 10 million visitor mark in July and the rising tourism expenditures. He also noted the remarkable recovery in tourist numbers from the United States, which now exceed pre-pandemic levels.
Average tourist spending saw an annual increase of 4.4%, settling at €1,367 per visitor. Daily expenditure increased by 9%, amounting to €185 per day. Visitors typically stayed for 7.4 days on average, similar to figures from July 2022.
In terms of nationalities, the UK led with 2 million visitors in July, followed by France and Germany with 1.6 million and 1 million tourists, respectively. Notably, the U.S., Portugal, and Italy exhibited significant growth rates in tourism. Moreover, the Americas—excluding the U.S.—saw a 30.3% year-on-year increase in visitor numbers.
When it comes to popular destinations within Spain, Catalonia led the charge, attracting almost 10.2 million visitors from January to July, a 27% increase from 2022. The Balearic and Canary Islands also reported significant upticks, drawing nearly 8.1 million and over 7.9 million tourists, respectively.
In the rest of the autonomous communities, the number of tourists increased by 18.4 % in the Community of Valencia, 6.1 % in the Community of Madrid and 4 % in the Canary Islands.
