Figures released show that tourism has once again consolidated its position as one of the main pillars of the Spanish economy, according to the INE national institute of statistics.
International tourists in 2023 has now wholly recovered from the pandemic and even outstripped that of the previous all-time record of 2019.
Spain was badly affected by the pandemic which saw the sector paralysed due to the impact of international travel restrictions.
A total of 79.8 million international tourists arrived in Spain between January and November – close to the 83.9 million who came in the whole of 2019 – and they spent 101 billion euros, which exceeds the 92.278 billion recorded then and with still a month left to go close the year.
For the Madrid region, the figures were also record breaking.
The Madrid regional Minister for Tourism, Mariano de Paco Serrano, said that tourism has increased by 17.6% since the pre-pandemic high with some 14 million visitors to the region in 2023.
Madrid´s best month was September when 765,040 tourists visited the region.
Visits up by 18% since last year and 1% higher than in 2019, but spending is even better than these figures, which reinforces the Government’s commitment to attract higher quality tourism that will bring more income to the sector.
Minister of Industry and Tourism, Jordi Hereu, said: “tourist arrivals and spending at the destination have accelerated notably in the second half of the year, especially in the months that were historically considered low season, with double-digit growth, which has a very positive impact on the national economy, both in terms of GDP and employment”.