Spain is trying to change the sun-and-sangria model that has made it one of the world’s prime tourist destinations, although a record-breaking summer for visits suggests this will not be easy.
New figures show there was a bumper August, in which there were 11.3 million visits to Spain, the most the country has seen in one month and putting it on track to surpass last year’s total foreign visits of 94 million, which was also a record.
“We are still seeing an upward trend,” said tourism minister Jordi Hereu.
That trend has been impossible to ignore since the Covid pandemic, when restrictions on movement virtually shut down an industry that represents 13 per cent of Spanish GDP.
In 2022, arrivals increased by 130 per cent, then 19 per cent in 2023 and 10 per cent last year.
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