Brits boost Andalucía tourism in January

Even in January in the Canaries and Andalucía, Brits can be found braving the beach.

The first month of the year in the UK was unseasonably mild, particularly in contrast to the sub-zero temperatures hitting the country as March arrives.

Even so, the temptation for Brits to jet off to sunnier climes in January was strong, with new tourism data from Spain showing that UK holidaymakers accounted for 800,000 of the 4.11 million foreign tourists registered in the country in January…

These figures represent a 5.2% increase on global tourism numbers from the same month last year. And while the increase in Brits was slightly more modest – a 0.2% rise on 2017 – their number was far and away the greatest among the nations.

German tourists numbered 502,000 in January, while French visitors to Spain that month reached 491,000. Meanwhile, the Scandinavian countries supplied 427,000 tourists.

By region, Andalucía, Valencia and the Canary Islands were particularly popular among Brits. While across Spain Brits accounted for around 19% of all tourists, that ratio was as high as 23.3% in Andalucía – home of the Costa del Sol – and up to a massive 30.4% in the Valencian Community.

Brits were also the most common source of tourism in the Canaries (accounting for 30.3%) and the second-most voluminous on the Balearic Islands, where the Germans’ love affair with Majorca saw them take top spot.

In terms of expenditure, the €4,501 million spent by tourists in January was 5.6% higher than last year, which equates to €145 million a day being spent by foreign visitors over the course of the month. Of that total figure, Brits spent €754 million euros, followed – interestingly – by the Scandinavians, who spent a collective €548 million.