Spain witnesses travel boom, edges closer to pre-pandemic tourism levels

Before the Covid-19 pandemic put a halt to travel in 2020, Spain received a total of 38.2 million tourists in 2019, with 8.8 million visiting in June.

More than twice as many tourists visited Spain in June than in the same month last year and they spent almost three times as much during their stay, National Statistics Institute data showed on Tuesday.

The 7.5 million visitors in June spent close to 9 billion euros ($9.2 billion), as Spain edges closer to pre-pandemic levels in its biggest and most important economic sector.

Before the pandemic put a halt to travel in 2020, Spain received a total of 38.2 million tourists in 2019, with 8.8 million visiting in June.

"In these six months (of 2022) we have already exceeded 30 million international tourists, which represents 80% of the pre-pandemic volume, but in terms of expenses we are already at 90% of pre-pandemic levels," Tourism Minister Reyes Maroto said.

"If the trend continues, we will clearly be at pre-pandemic levels (at the end of the year)," she said.

Spain's government expects tourist arrivals to reach 90% of pre-pandemic volumes during the summer season, as northern Europeans shrug off concerns over inflation and book even more trips than in 2019.