Record-Breaking Numbers of Tourists Arriving in Spain in 2014

quality of life in spain is good

According to the ITE (Instituto de Turismo España), record breaking numbers of tourists are currently arriving in Spain every month, and it’s expected to continue throughout the year. Recently released figures show 21.4 million foreign tourists arrived in Spain from January to May 2014, which is an increase of 8.2% from the same period last year. Way to go, Spain!

Top nationalities visiting Spain, of course, include the British right at the top, and the French not too far behind. Those two nationalities alone accounted for more than 22 percent of all tourist visits to Spain. In third place, German tourists in Spain made up 16.6 percent of the total.

The number of Scandinavians arriving in Spain was slightly down in the first few months of 2014 but, in 2013, Spain was still the most popular destination for tourists from the Scandinavian area of Europe, so they’re still coming in huge numbers.

Not surprising for anyone who has spent any time in a Spanish beach resort, particularly in the winter, where Scandinavians are the second highest population behind the Spanish, they love Spain so much.

As for the most popular areas of Spain to visit during the January to May period, Catalonia came out top with 25 percent of all tourists heading to Spain deciding to travel there.

The Canary Islands were in second place, followed by Andalucia, which was the third most-visited area of Spain.