The number of foreign tourists visiting Spain in July rose 7.7 per cent year-on-year, the Spanish Industry, Trade and Tourism Ministry said today.
Spain received 7.4 million tourists in July, bringing the total for the first seven months of the year to more than 31 million, which the ministry said was a record. It was 6.1 per cent more than the same period last year.
The number of tourists from Britain fell 0.1 per cent in year-on-year terms, but 21 per cent more French tourists came to Spain in July and 4.2 per cent more Germans.
Catalonia, the northeastern region around Spain's second city Barcelona, was the most popular region with foreign tourists and received 11.3 per cent more visitors this July than last year.
Valencia, which includes the resorts of Alicante and Benidorm, received 11.7 per cent more tourists in the month; Madrid had 14 per cent more.
Tourism accounts for about 12 per cent of Spain's economy, with about half of that coming from foreign visitors and the rest from Spaniards holidaying at home.
However, although tourists numbers are rising, visitors are spending less and the industry is trying to attract high spending visitors. Government data shows that in the first six months of the year, spending per tourist fell 3.5 per cent.