More than 55.9 million foreign tourists visited Spain during the first nine months of the year, 183.5% more than in the same period of 2021, when 19.7 million arrived. They made an expenditure of 68,137 million euros, 209.7% more, according to Frontur and Egatur statistics published by the National Statistics Institute (INE).
Up to September, the main issuing markets were the United Kingdom, with nearly 12 million tourists and an annual increase of 414.6%; France, with more than 7.9 million, and an increase of 96.1%, and Germany, with 7.7 million, 127.5% more.
The autonomous communities that received the most tourists were the Balearic Islands, with 11.6 million and an increase of 128.8% over the same period in 2021; Catalonia, with 11.5 million and an increase of 208.2%, and the Canary Islands, with 8.7 million, up 272.1%.
Total spending by international visitors increased by 209.7% between January and September compared to the first nine months of the previous year, reaching 68,137 million euros, according to the Tourism Expenditure Survey (Egatur).
The United Kingdom is the country that made the largest disbursement, with 20.2% of the total. This was followed by Germany, with 13.3%, and France, with 9.6%.
The autonomous regions with the highest expenditure of foreign tourists were the Balearic Islands, with 19.7% of the total, Catalonia, with 19.2%, and the Canary Islands, with 18.4%.
In September alone, 7.8 million international tourists visited Spain, 66.3% more than in the same month of 2021. 23% of guests corresponded to the UK, which remains the main source market, followed by Germany and France, with 1.1 million and 932,255 tourists, respectively.
Also noteworthy was the growth of tourists from the United States (140.5%), Ireland (80%) and Italy (70.4%).
The total spending of foreign tourists in September was 9.2 billion euros, 83% more than in the same month of 2021, when 5 billion were recorded.
Average spending per tourist stood at 1,182 euros, up 10% year-on-year. Average daily expenditure grew by 22.4% to 169 euros.
The average duration of trips by international tourists was seven days in September, 0.8 days less than a year earlier.