The Irish love affair with Spain

More than a million Irish people have visited Spain this year

One only has to walk Marbella’s Old Town, Fuengirola’s promenade or Puerto Banús’ second-line-gauntlet to quickly establish that the Irish love Spain.

That unmistakeable lilt can be heard from Torremolinos to Tarifa, and the prevalence of Irish bars – although popular with most nationalities – suggests that the Costa del Sol has long been a happy holiday spot for our Irish cousins.

But new data released last week by the Spanish Statistical Institute and the Spanish Tourism Office reveals just how much the Irish love Spain. And the answer? A helluva lot…

According to the data, a whopping 1,074,000 Irish people have travelled to Spain so far this year, with that figure expected to rise to 1.3 million by the end of the year. Considering that there are only 6.3 million Irish people living in Ireland (although many more residing elsewhere, of course), that means that pretty much one in six of all Irish people will have visited Spain in 2014.

Altogether, this figure is more than the number of Irish holidaymakers who have visited France, Italy, Portugal and Germany combined. In fact, only the UK will see more visits from the Irish than Spain this year.

Within Spain, the Costa del Sol, the Canary Islands and Catalonia are the most popular locations, with June and July – unsurprisingly – the most popular time of year to travel. Beyond the height of summer, the shoulder months of the season are also increasingly popular, with 145,000 Irish visiting Spain in September – an increase of 8.5 per cent on last year.

“We’re having our best year since 2009,” said the Director of the Spanish Tourism Office in Ireland, Gonzalo Ceballos. Spain has long been a popular destination for the Irish, but with the recent economic downturn hitting both nations badly, tourism was doubly affected.

“We believe Irish people travel not just due to a cultural affinity with Spain, but because it’s great value for money,” added Ceballos.

According to the Spanish Tourism Office, 21 per cent of all Irish travel expenditure throughout the whole of 2013 was spent in Spain – and not just on industrial-strength sun lotion.

“Irish visitors to Spain love the traditional resorts, but more and more are exploring city breaks, wine routes and the Camino de Santiago,” said Ceballos.