SPAIN welcomed 4.1 million foreign tourists in January to slightly beat the total three years earlier- weeks before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The figure was 0.2% up on January 2020 with total expenditure rising by 9.2% to reach €5.2 billion, according to the National Statistics Institute.
With Covid travel restrictions still in place a year ago, the number of overseas visitors was up by 65.8% compared to January 2022, with an expenditure rise of 71.7% over 12 months.
The average spend per overseas tourist in January stood at €1,258 euros, with an annual increase of 3.5%, while daily spending grew by 19.3%, to €148- both totals higher than those in 2020, when they were €1,155 and €144 respectively.
The average duration of trips by international tourists was 8.5 days, which is 1.3 days less than in January 2022 but 0.5 days more than three years ago.
The United Kingdom dominated foreign arrivals with 742,212 tourists- 3.3% up on January 2020 and 103.6% more than the same month last year.
They spent €847 million euros- 16% more than before the pandemic and a bumper 90% rise compared to a year earlier.
The Canary Islands was January’s favourite destination, with 1.2 million foreign visitors (58.5% more than a year ago), and representing 29% of Spain’s total.
The next two most popular areas were Catalunya with 798,331 (19.2% of the total) and Andalucia, with 571,873 (13.8% of the total), though both regions did not match 2020 levels.