Staff Reporter
THE southern Spanish region of Andalucia is still hanging on in the top spot for Spaniards as their preferred destination when enjoying a ‘staycation’.
According to figures published by the National Statistics Institute (INE), between April and June of this year residents of Spain made a total of 7.4 million journeys to Andalucia, which is Spain’s biggest region by population.
That represented 17% of the total, with 45.1 million domestic trips taken in the same time period this year.
The overall figures have, however, registered a fall.
The total number of domestic trips between April and June was down 7% compared to the same period the year before, according to the INE figures, which were reported by Andalucia Informacion.
The amount that these domestic tourists spent, however, rose by 4% to €13.6 billion, due to a generalised rise in prices.
The second-most-popular destination for national tourists was the Catalunya region, which saw 6.4 million visits, some 14% of the total.
Andalusians are also big travellers themselves, making nearly 15% of the total trips for the April to June time period, placing them third in the ranking.
In first place were Madrileños, who made 18.4% of total domestic journeys, and then Catalans, who accounted for 17.9%.
The INE data appears to confirm that the massive boom in domestic tourism that was seen after the coronavirus pandemic is beginning to wane, as Spaniards look abroad for their vacations.
