Tourism in Spain

Logo "Sol de Miró", representative image of the Spain Brand since 1983.

Tourism in Spain is an economic activity that accounted for 12.4% of the country's GDP in 2019. Spain is a tourist country with a developed infrastructure in the service sector, ranking among the three most visited in the world, to which millions of travelers come annually attracted by its beaches and pleasant climate, the country's abundant artistic heritage and gastronomic wealth, in addition to being one of the richest nations in terms of cultural heritage on the planet due to the large number of civilizations that left their mark and legacy on the Iberian Peninsula.

According to the 2017 report of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Spain is the second country in the world in number of foreign tourists, with 81.9 million tourists per year in 2017, only surpassed by France. According to the In a 2012 report provided by Eurostat, Spain was the first country in the European Union (EU) in number of overnight stays, surpassing France, due to an increase of 4.3% over the previous year.

The impact of tourism represents around 11% of the country's gross domestic product, sustaining part of its economy in the service sector, with unparalleled development and excellence in hospitality and transportation since the tourism boom that occurred in the 1960s that was finally consolidated with the celebration of the fifth centenary of the Discovery of America (1492) of the Olympic Games in Barcelona and the Universal Exposition in Seville.

With respect to income from the tourism sector, Spain is the second nation in the world, only surpassed by the United States according to the UNWTO. The main tourist destination is Catalonia —with Barcelona also being the main city receiving tourists— followed by the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands. In 2015, the World Economic Forum awarded Spain first place in the world in tourism competitiveness. According to data provided by the INE in February 2017, Spain entered 77,625 million euros in 2016 as of tourist income, 9% more than the previous year.

For several decades, special emphasis was placed on promoting sun and beach tourism, due to the much warmer and sunnier climate compared to other European countries. Summer temperatures typically range from 20 to 40°C, and many regions experience more than 300 sunny days per year, with generally hot and dry summers. The tourist capacity in the coastal towns provides a high number of hotels, restaurants and homes on the beach of which the Costa del Sol and the Valencian coast are faithful exponents with Marbella, Torremolinos and Benidorm as prominent promoters.

Northern Spain has a somewhat cooler and more humid climate. Many Spaniards and foreigners feel attracted by the thousand-year-old Camino de Santiago or festivals of a playful nature such as San Fermín. The northern zone combines rural tourism with large sandy beaches that enjoy good weather in summer and ski tourism in winter. This area presents a unique beauty due to the proximity of mountains with abundant vegetation and areas such as the Cantabrian coast, the Galician estuaries or the Picos de Europa.

Spanish gastronomy is wide and varied, with typical dishes such as gazpacho, paella, Madrid stew, fabada, Iberian ham, shellfish or typical fish from the area. Olive oil, of which Spain is the first producing country in the world, is used in a wide variety of dishes, and is highly appreciated in other countries.

In recent years, interest in cultural tourism in Spain has grown, increasing the influx of visitors to destinations such as the Roman Mérida in Extremadura or historic places in Castilla y León.

History of tourism in Spain

Opening to the outside (1957 to 1966)

Manuel Fraga, Minister of Information and Tourism (1962-1969).

Beach of Benidorm towards 1960

The opening to the exterior is framed in the context of European economic takeoff. The Spanish economy opens to the outside with the Stabilization Plan of 1959, ending autarky and beginning the stage known as the Spanish economic miracle, which lasted until the oil crisis of 1973. Tourism suffers a political instrumentation by the Franco regime. In this stage, the Undersecretary of Tourism and the Institute of Tourism Studies are created. Within the legal framework, basic legislation was born to stimulate tourism development and international agreements on tourism incidence came into force. Tourism appears in the National Investment Management Program and in the first OECD reports on the Spanish economy. Accommodation prices and foreign investments are liberalized while local entities are supported. From 6 million tourists in 1960 it rose to more than 34 million in 1973. Between 1959 and 1973 the profits of the tourism sector increased by 2403%.

The weakness of Spanish capitalism together with the lack of confidence that the Spanish financial sector had in tourism, which they considered as a temporary phenomenon and which they underestimated in its potential, made the capital that financed the growth of the hotel offer Most of the sun and beach resorts were foreigners, thus creating the dependence of tourism on foreign tour operators. In fact, the absence of Spanish financial capital in the tourist development of those years was resounding. The only concern was obtaining the largest possible volume of foreign currency in order to undertake the industrial modernization of Spain. The social and environmental costs of very rapid tourist growth, as well as the lack of planning for it -and almost no control whatsoever- constitute negative aspects that have weighed heavily on the Spanish coasts. The lack of economic control of said growth was also felt in the subsequent tourist development that presented all the characteristics of an exploitation of raw materials -in this case the sun and the beach- typical of a dependent economy.

The development (1964 to 1973)

The port of Ibiza in 1965

At this time the development of specific tourism legislation took place. The conceptual framework went from "anything goes" to a certain tourist management. What happened in this decade has been called “unplanned planning”. As the objective was to stimulate the growth of the offer as a means of encouraging the arrival of more tourists and, consequently, more foreign currency. No other type of considerations other than the merely quantitative growth were taken into account. And to achieve this, the urban obstacles that slowed down or limited the growth of the tourist offer were eliminated. The current Land Law was an obstacle, so Fraga sought a formula to avoid it in the Law on Centers and Areas of Tourist Interest. This rule, which served to expedite and stimulate both national and foreign investment in tourist real estate, was in turn to blame for the numerous urban mischief that was committed in those years, and later on the Spanish coast.

In the economic sphere, it meant a greater exploitation of sun and beach tourism, which was not as productive as it could be due to the strong dependence of the Spanish hotel offer on foreign tour operators. The Laws of Coasts and Sports Ports made possible the privatization of the coastal public domain. At the end of the period, already in the 1970s, the first symptoms of a timid territorial reorientation of tourism policy appeared in relation to the need to proceed to a certain spatial planning; They are the confirmation that the excesses of the past were beginning to make themselves felt.

The political transition (1974-1977)

Calle de Alcalá, Madrid, 1974

There is a reorientation weighed down by political conditions (Spanish Transition). The Ministry of Information and Tourism is dissolved (integrated into the Ministry of Commerce) and the Secretary of State for Tourism is created. This new administrative relationship resulted in a new conception of tourism, once completely devoid of the political-instrumental ballast that had always weighed on it. The "Territories of Preferred Tourist Use" are declared, the Regulations for Travel Agencies are established. In the economic field, the liberalization of foreign investment and financial support for the modernization of business take place, gambling is decriminalized and foreign investment in it is regulated, mixed competitions are created for the granting of subsidies and credits for business groups tourist.

Given the confirmation of the obsolescence and decapitalization of the hotel infrastructure, the Hotel Modernization Plans are created. The dependence on foreign tour operators had led to this situation. In quite a few famous vacation spots, tourist saturation problems were detected. Despite the difficulties in this period, the foundations of Spanish tourism renewal were laid, later followed by successive governments and by some autonomous communities in later years. This new approach to tourism gave priority to the problems of the sector: the need to renew equipment and business strengthening through the improvement of its organizational and financial structures.

The construction of the State of Autonomies (1978-1985)

Football ball with the image of Naranjito, the pet of the 1982 World Cup of Football held in Spain, signed by the Italian selection, which was the team that won it.

Torremolinos in 1983

In this period, powers in tourism matters are transferred to the autonomous communities, which are organized according to their socio-cultural, economic and territorial characteristics, with the drawback of the loss of homogeneity of the legislation in force to date. At the same time, a new central tourist administration is organized that focuses on tourism management as that of a typically exporting sector, and therefore, supports its foreign marketing, while eliminating the bureaucratic obstacles that had been restricting the operation of the free market in the different subsectors and tourist activities. The Institute for the Promotion of Tourism in Spain is created and the public domain begins to be recovered in the legislation of the coast. The Moncloa Pacts include measures to support tourism.

At this time, the transformation of the tourism administration took place, which definitely separated itself from other administrative links that had weighed down, to a certain extent, the operation of the tourism sector. New elements of tourism policy appear in response to the socio-cultural changes experienced in the Western world and in Spain. Greater attention is paid to the quality than to the quantity of our tourist infrastructures, and there is also a new concern for the "collective environmental heritage" (coastals, mountains or old urban environments), and a growing attention to an "orderly" tourist use and judicious" of nature. With this, a period of maturity was entered in accordance with the new directions that the economy of the different productive sectors presented throughout the developed world.

The full incorporation of Spain into modernity (1986-present)

Cobi, the pet of the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games

During this period, progress was made towards close collaboration between the different public administrations and the private sector. A new structure appears for the General Secretariat of Tourism and the National Institute for the Promotion of Tourism in Spain. The activity of travel agencies is deregulated. The definitive recovery of the coastal public domain and an institutionalization of international cooperation in tourism matters took place. The Spanish Tourism Competitiveness Framework Plan is established. The distribution of powers between the autonomous communities and the central government facilitates the process of professionalization of those responsible for the central administrative bodies in charge of tourism, who become autonomous bodies. New problems are also originating from this process of transfer of powers to the autonomous communities that require the creation of a coordination body between them, with the central and local administrations, and with the business community, such as the Tourism Promotion Council which, even of an advisory nature is of great importance.

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in 2011

The modernization of tourist infrastructures is sought to later lead to its conversion into a key element of a permanent strategy to maintain the competitiveness of Spanish tourism. The Spanish Tourism Competitiveness Framework Plan (known as Plan Futures) means the concretion of a permanent strategy to adapt to the new tastes of the market, supporting diversification, new products and improving competitiveness from a comprehensive and integrated approach. At this time, the nature protection policy was generalized, making it compatible with its tourist use, and tourism was used as a promotional sector in the regional incentive policy aimed at correcting inter-territorial imbalances, proof of the importance and maturity that the sector has reached in the Spanish economy. In this period, new support policies for Spanish tourism are conceived and addressed, which changes substantially as it diversifies and improves in quality, also creating a new tourism model that is more and better adapted to the new and changing market demands that, without denying of sun and beach, diversifies it and complements it with new attractions of all kinds, in the permanent search for maximum competitiveness.

Foreign tourism

Spain was the fourth country in the world in number of foreign tourists in 2010, with 52.7 million tourists per year, surpassed by France, the United States of America and China.

Tourism brought Spain 52,525 million dollars in 2010, which placed it in second position in terms of economic income, behind the United States, which earned 103,500 million dollars in the same period, and ahead of France (46,300), China (45,800) and Italy (38,800).

Spain received a total of 56.17 million foreign tourists during 2011, 6.6% more than those registered in the same period of the previous year, according to data from the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism, on 80 % of them arrived by air.

Of these, 84.3% came to Spain for leisure or vacation reasons, 7.2% for work or business reasons, 4.8% for personal reasons, and the rest for other unspecified reasons.. The number of tourists has grown significantly since 1950, but their nationalities have not changed. Most of them came (and still come) from western and northern Europe, and are usually German, British, French, Italian and Portuguese.

Tourist index Tickets of tourists according to autonomous community of main destination. Percentage of the national total. Year 2019

Source: Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism.

Evolution of the number of non-resident tourists

Beach in Palma de Mallorca. The Balearic Islands are the third tourist destination of the country after Catalonia and the Canary Islands.

The development of Spanish tourism began in the 1960s, at this time Spain was behind other European countries, however, it maintained certain qualities that made it an attractive country for foreign tourists, such as the sun and the beach as well of being a "cheap country" The government at that time (made up mostly of technocrats belonging to Opus Dei) gave special importance to tourism through the Economic Development Plans, thus producing an economic boost and also tourism contributed to the improvement of transport infrastructure.< /p>

Puerto Banus, located in Marbella (Andalucía), is part of the Costa del Sol area, one of the most important tourist regions in Spain.

But in 1980 and 1990, with the rise in prices in Spain, the appearance of new competitors located in the Mediterranean such as Turkey (which had similar qualities to Spain in terms of its sun and beach tourism) and the fact that The fact that Europeans with higher incomes prefer to travel to more distant and exotic places forced Spain to differentiate itself in order to be more competitive. Thus, higher quality tourism and a greater number of services began to be offered.

Currently, tourism in Spain is one of the most important activities in the economy, in fact it could be said that it is the main activity that sustains certain areas such as the Mediterranean coast or the Canary and Balearic archipelagos, where produced a "tourism" (Thus displacing other economic activities belonging to the primary or secondary sector due to their low profitability compared to tourism)

This has meant that Spain was greatly affected in 2020 (due to the COVID-19 pandemic) which, as a consequence of a lower arrival of tourists, other economic activities such as hotels or leisure activities have been affected.

Main receiving regions

Tourists in Barcelona, Catalonia.

Barcelona and Madrid are the main tourist cities in Spain. They have a great tourist offer of various national and international congresses and conventions, which increases the numbers.

In 2014, the most visited city was Barcelona, ranking 25th in the world. Together with Madrid, they are two of the five European cities where the highest spending per tourist is produced.

Barcelona is the Spanish city where it costs the most to stay overnight —with 65,100 beds distributed in 352 hotels—, with an average price per room of €100, followed by Madrid (€68) and Valencia (€60.50).

Other tourist areas

The Canary Islands have an average of more than ten million tourists per year. In 2012, the archipelago was the third autonomous community in terms of number of arrivals, the second in terms of average spending per tourist (€1,047), and the first in hotel occupancy. The trends for 2014 are also very positive, the islands became the number one tourist destination in Spain in January, February, March, October, November and December, with an average of more than a million tourists each month.

Tenerife is the main tourist destination on the islands, with 37% of the total, followed by Gran Canaria with 31% and then Lanzarote and Fuerteventura with 16.28% and 13.30% respectively. La Palma remains in the proportion exceeding 1.3%.

In rural areas, they are trying to meet the expectations of creating a type of tourism in it. Through programs to support rural development, they aim to stimulate complementary aspects of agricultural activity and recover homes, crafts and local traditions, etc. including an offer of leisure activities related to nature and the environment.

Ski tourism is also important in various mountain systems, such as Sierra Nevada. Cultural and historical tourism is also developed in Spain, highlighting medium-sized cities such as Toledo or Segovia and others with larger populations such as Granada.

Main issuing markets

48.7% of foreign tourism in Spain in 2016 came from just three countries: Germany, France and the United Kingdom, with 17,840,292 tourists entering the country throughout the year, 12.4% more than the previous year.

Other countries or areas from which a significant number of tourists come are: Belgium, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, the Nordic countries, Portugal and Switzerland. In 2016, by continent, 86.1% of tourists came from Europe, 7.1% from America, and the remaining 6.8% from the rest of the world.

Principal countries of origin (2022)
Position	Country	Amount	Percentage
1. a	France	23.556.182	-
2. a	United KingdomUnited Kingdom	14.458.923	-
3. a	GermanyGermany	9.511.422	-
4. a	Portugal	8.082.839	-
5. a	Rest of Europe	6.843.742	-
6. a	ItalyItaly	4.427.341	-
7. a	Rest of America	4.192.143	-
8. a	NetherlandsNetherlands	3.818.772	-
9. a	Nordic countries	3.721.765	-
10. a	Rest of the world	2.998.484	-
11. a	United States	2.978.776	-
12. a	BelgiumBelgium	2.538.233	-
13. a	Ireland	1.919.599	-
14. a	SwitzerlandSwitzerland	1.882.944	-
15. a	Russia Russia	32.726	-

Tourism assets

World Heritage Monuments

The Alhambra view from the viewpoint of Saint Nicholas. The Alhambra was the most visited monument in Spain until 2011.

Spain has, along with Italy, the largest number of places declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO in the world, totaling 41. In addition, thirteen Spanish cities hold the title of World Heritage Cities also by UNESCO, among which are included: Santiago de Compostela, Salamanca, Ávila, Segovia, Alcalá de Henares, Toledo, Cáceres, Mérida, San Cristóbal de la Laguna, Córdoba, Ibiza, Cuenca, Úbeda, Baeza, and Tarragona, turning Spain into the country with the most cities awarded with this distinction. The most visited monuments are the Alhambra in Granada and the Temple of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, which compete for leadership each year.

Natural spaces

The Teide National Park is the most visited national park in Spain. It is located in the Canary Islands, the second most visited autonomous community. It is also the most visited national park in Europe and the second in the world.

Spain is the most mountainous country in the European Union after Greece, and in altitude it is surpassed only by Switzerland, Austria and the small states of Andorra and Liechtenstein. However, it has a remarkable landscape diversity. Many natural spaces in the country are subject to different protection figures. Spain has fourteen national parks (see national parks of Spain), which are those possessing a high natural and cultural value, with little anthropic action and which, due to their exceptional natural values and their uniqueness, deserve preferential attention to the general interest of the nation for being representative of the Spanish natural heritage.

Other protection figures are the natural parks, of which Spain has 126, and the regional parks, with a total of 25, all distributed throughout the Spanish geography. These protection figures are aimed at both protecting these resources considered assets of interest to the Spanish state, as well as promoting their knowledge and recreational (sustainable) use of them, promoting the activities that take place in them (caving, hiking, bird watching, rafting, canoeing and climbing).

Tourist routes

Festivities of International Tourist Interest

The Festivals of International Tourist Interest constitute one of the most important international tourism assets in Spain. Among the most outstanding with the largest number of visitors are the Bonfires of Alicante, the Fair of Albacete, the Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the Sanfermines of Pamplona, the Fiestas del Pilar in Zaragoza, Holy Week in Malaga or the Fair of April of Seville.^{[citation required]}

Monuments

Awards

• Medal and Placa to the Tourist Merit