British visitors to Spain up 7.8% so far in 2017

It is easy to see why Spain is the perfect holiday destination.

Spain’s enduring appeal endures because it manages to do the simple things better than pretty much anywhere else on the planet.

Beaches are clean, accessible, varied and well-served by a plethora of restaurants, bars, playgrounds and hotels; the climate is pleasant for pretty much the entire year; accommodation ranges from the supremely affordable to the reassuringly expensive; flights are cheap and regular; its cities are beautiful, historic and modern all at once, and its people are unfailingly friendly and welcoming…

It is no surprise, then, that Spain is regularly among the top three most-visited destinations in the world every year. In 2017, however, it would appear likely that Spain will become THE most popular holiday destination on the planet – according to official tourism data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

Up to and including the month of August this year, Spain had welcomed 57 million tourists – an annual increase of 9.9% on the same period last year.

During the month of August alone some 10.4 million people – around a quarter of Spain’s population – visited the country. This figure represented a 4% increase on August 2016, which suggests that the country’s popularity is continuing to increase at an encouraging rate.

The story is equally true for British visitors. Since Brexit there had been fears that British holidaymakers would prefer a staycation in the UK rather than travel overseas where their pound stretched a little less far. However, with 13.2 million Brits visiting Spain between January and August this year, those fears have been quashed.

Thus far, the number of Britons who have visited Spain in 2017 is 7.8% higher than in 2016, while there have also been notable increases in tourism from other nationalities. German visitor numbers reached 8.2 million – an increase of 7.2%, while French visitor numbers topped 8.4 million – an increase of 1.8%.

The region of Andalucía, home to the Costa del Sol, saw the biggest increase in foreign tourists, rising 5% on last year. In August alone, Andalucía attracted 1.4 million visitors from overseas.