Walter Finch
BRITISH visitors have once again led the charge as Spain’s top spenders in 2024 in a year in which the country’s tourism industry smashed records.
Foreign visitors spent a staggering €126.3 billion over the year – a 16.1% increase from 2023 – while British travellers alone contributed €22.6 billion, according to the latest records from the Spanish Institude of Statistics (INE).
It keeps the Brits as Spain’s most valued customers for the fourth year in a row, with only the blip of Covid stopping them from an unblemished record.
December continued a strong run for the Spanish tourism sector, with a surge of festive-season visitors spending €7.6 billion – a 7% rise compared to the same month in 2023.
Visitors spent an average of €1,441 per person – a 5.9% increase compared with December 2023, while average Daily expenditure also climbed by 6.4% to €159
Even accounting for a meagre 0.6% increase, British tourists accounted for €1.1 billion of this figure, or 14.5% of all spending.
The Canary Islands were, predictably, the top destination for British tourists in December, with the archipelago accounting for 29.5% of all spending.
Cataluya and Madrid followed closely, with British visitors spending heavily in Barcelona’s bustling streets and the Spanish capital’s world-class museums and restaurants.
While Brits remain Spain’s biggest spenders, German tourists are catching up fast.
In December, German visitors splurged €952 million, a remarkable 20.4% increase from the previous year.
Over the course of 2024, German spending in Spain reached €15.5 billion, up 17.6% from 2023.
Nordic tourists also made their mark, with the highest per-person spending of any nationality, averaging €1,769 per trip in December.
With 93.8 million international visitors in 2024 – a 10.1% increase from the previous year – Spain shows no signs of losing its status as a global tourism powerhouse.
Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, and the Canary Islands remain the most sought-after regions, attracting the lion’s share of visitors and tourist spending – leaving Andalucia as one of the smaller ponies in the race.
Catalonia came out on top in terms of both tourist numbers and spending in 2024.
The region welcomed nearly 20 million international visitors, a 9.7% increase, and generated €23.745 million in tourist expenditure.
The Canary Islands and Balearic Islands also attracted over 15 million tourists.
