Spain received more than 77.8 million international tourists in the first eleven months of 2016, which represents an increase of 9.1% over the same period last year, a figure that exceeds the total of tourists received in 2016 (75.6 million), according to the Survey of Frontier Tourism Movements (Frontur), released by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
In November, 4.4 million international tourists visited the country, 7.4% more than in the same month of the previous year. Canarias, with 28.2% of the total, was the first destination for visitor arrivals, ahead of Catalonia (22.4%) and Andalusia (13%).
From January to November, the United Kingdom, the main source of tourists to Spain, registered a 7% increase, with 18 million visitors, 23.1% of the total. In November, it remained the main source of tourists to Spain, with 913,373 visitors, representing 20.7% of total entries, after recording an increase of 5.4% compared to November 2016.
It was followed by Germany, which experienced a growth of 6.1% in the first eleven months, up to 11.4 million visitors, 14.6% of total arrivals, and France, with almost 10.7 million international tourists and an increase of 0.4%, representing 13.7% of the total.
In November, Germany and France issued 594,451 visitors (+9%) and 535,781 (+0.5%), respectively. Germany ranked second in the Canary Islands (21.9% of the total), while French tourists led the arrivals to Catalonia (22.1%).
From January to November, the Nordic countries increased by 14.6% the number of tourists issued to Spain, up to 5.45 million, 7% of the total. They were followed by Italy and the Netherlands, with 3.9 and 3.5 million visitors, respectively, representing 5.1% and 4.5% of the total, which makes them the fifth and sixth issuing markets.
Among the rest of the countries of residence, it is worth mentioning the growth of tourists from the United States (+33.7%) and Switzerland (+22.1%), who contributed 2.5 million and 1.9 million tourists, respectively.
On the other hand, the entries of Russian tourists increased by 14.1%, to almost 1.1 million visitors.
The communities that received the most tourists until November were Catalonia, with more than 18.2 million and an increase of 6.1% over the same period of 2016, followed by the Balearic Islands, with more than 13.7 million, a 6.2% plus. Canarias is in third place with 13 million, 7.9% more.