Summertime in Spain is still the favoured choice for Brits

The beaches, the sunshine, the sangría, the low cost - no wonder Spain is so popular with British holidaymakers

Despite the well-documented economic woes, the recent high-profile arrests of Brit criminals holed up on the Costas, and our very own prolonged heatwave, Spain remains the destination of choice for holidaying Brits.

Figures released this week by the Spanish National Tourist Office show that 9.3 per cent more British tourists visited Spain in May this year than compared to the same month in 2012…

And not only that, but Brits accounted for 27.1 per cent of all international visits to Spain for May, making the British far and away Spanish resorts’ best customers. The most popular locations were, as ever, the Costa del Sol, the Canaries and the Balearics. In fact, Andalucía registered a 5.7 per cent increase in visitor numbers this May when compared to last.

The statistics also looked at the first half of 2013, from January to the end of May, and discovered that some 19.8 million international travellers visited Spain during this period, of which a whopping 22 per cent were from the UK.

After the Brits, Spain also turns the heads of German and French holidaymakers, with the former making up 17.3 per cent of May visitors, while the latter accounted for 14 per cent. Between that January-May period, the Spanish economy was boosted by €18 million in tourist revenue, with Brits accounting for 18.4 per cent of all expenditure, or €704 per head (broken down to an average of €91 per person per day).

When faced with such figures, it becomes ever more apparent just how important tourism – particularly British tourism – is to the Spanish economy. Spain has always been an excellent host, and Brits have loved its beaches, climate, lifestyle, scenery, affordability and accessibility ever since the very first package holidays of the ‘60s and ‘70s.