Brits and Irish turn to safe Spain in their droves in 2016

Mainland Spain is proving a particularly attractive destination for Brits and Irish seeking safe summer sun this year.

Sun-seeking holidaymakers from the UK and Ireland are set to make this year another bumper year for Spanish tourism as fears of terrorist attacks elsewhere drive people to the Iberian peninsula…

Both Spain and Portugal are preparing for a huge influx of visitors in 2016 as alternative package holiday resorts in and around Europe are deemed off-limits to Brits and Irish holidaymakers in search of an affordable summer holiday.

The threat posed by ISIS is stark in many of the North African countries such as Tunisia, Egypt and – to a lesser extent – Morocco, while Turkish resorts are also counting the cost of their close proximity to the ongoing skirmishes in Syria and Iraq.

That leaves Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece as Europe’s guaranteed heavy hitters this summer, but Greece’s economic problems and the fact that Italy has long been an expensive alternative means that record numbers are set to flock to Spain and Portugal this summer.

According to TripAdvisor and Thomas Cook – two giants in the on- and off-line booking world – the numbers of enquiries for many Spanish resorts is already way higher so far in 2016 than it was at this point last year.

This data reflects similar analysis published a few weeks ago by TravelSupermarket.com, which revealed that Spain now accounts for one-third of all holiday searches by Brits.

“We are seeing a lot of people who would normally go to Turkey or North African countries like Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia look at the more traditional Spanish mainland,” said a Thomas Cook spokesperson.

Spain received 1.6 million Brits in October last year, with the money spent by British tourists in the country far higher throughout 2015 than any other nationality.

It is expected that Brits will spend even more per head in 2016 than they did last year, said Thomas Cook.