In November, Spain recovered 72% of the international tourists it received in 2019

The more than 3.3 million tourists who visited Spain in November represent an increase of 54% compared to 2020 and bring the cumulative figure for the first 11 months of the year to 28.2 million. Spending in November increased at a higher rate of 63.8% to 31.274 billion euros between January and November.

For the Minister for Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, this data "confirms that the recovery of international tourism continued its gradual advance in November, despite the increase in contagions in our main European markets. Month after month we see how Spain is approaching the volumes of tourists and spending it had in 2019, although the uncertainty associated with the new wave could delay the recovery to pre-pandemic levels in international tourism, which will depend on its duration as we have seen in previous waves. However, confidence in travel to Spain is higher due to the high levels of vaccination in our country, which makes us forecast total international tourist arrivals in the fourth quarter of 2021 between 10.2 and 10.6 million, which is between 62% and 64% of those received in the same period of 2019."

Seven times more tourists than last year

Seven times more tourists came to Spain in November than a year ago. The United Kingdom was the main source market with 597,458 tourists (17.8% of the total), followed by France with 496,579 tourists and Germany with 479,403 tourists.

The main destination for foreign visitors was the Canary Islands (one million foreign visitors), where three out of ten tourists went - mainly British and German. Catalonia was the second main destination region, with 604,925 tourists, mainly from France and other European countries; and Andalusia, with 485,504, mainly from the United Kingdom and Nordic countries.

Longer stays and more spending than in 2019

Tourism spending in November already represented three quarters of the values of the same month in 2019. Tourists visiting Spain in November stayed on average one day longer than in 2019. Specifically, the average trip length has increased from 6.8 days in November 2019 to 7.9 days this year.

As a result, the average spending per tourist also increased to 1,119 euros compared to 1,086 euros in November 2019.

Non official translation