Spending by international tourists rose 22.6% in the first four months of the year to 31.5 billion euros

Tourists at an airport

In April, 7.8 million international tourists visited our country, 8.3% more than in April 2023, according to data published by the National Statistics Institute (INE). Spain also once again broke its record for tourist spending this month. Foreign visitors brought in 9.565 billion euros, an increase of 13.1% on April last year. In the first four months of the year, spending by international tourists grew 22.6% to over 31.5 billion euros and the number of visitors increased 14.5% to over 23.9 million.

The Minister for Industry and Tourism Jordi Hereu, said that "the results of the first four months of 2024, the best in the historical series since official records began, speak of a tourism that revolves around quality as a differentiating aspect, with spending at the destination that continues to increase and that symbolises the permanent love affair of international tourists with a range of innovative offers that aspire to make values such as sustainability and digitisation a reality".

In detail, the tourism spending data for April also offers remarkable results. The statistics of average spending per traveller and average daily spending which, together with the average stay, are three essential concepts for measuring the effectiveness of the ministry's tourism strategy, have once again improved for another month. In April, each tourist spent an average of 1,221 euros, 4.4% more than last year, and spending per day also reflected this growth, reaching 183, a year-on-year increase of 5.4%. The majority of tourists - almost 4 million - stayed between four and seven nights, with an annual increase of 6.7%.

Main tourist markets

For yet another month, the United Kingdom tops the list of tourist source countries, with 1.5 million people in April and an increase of 8.5% compared to April 2023. From France, the second country in terms of visitors, 1.2 million tourists arrived (10.8% more than a year ago) and from Germany, the third country in the ranking, 1.1 million tourists visited us (31.8% more than in April 2023). The main source countries in the first four months of the year were the United Kingdom (with more than 4.4 million and an increase of 12.9%), Germany (with almost 3.2 million and an increase of 16.9%) and France (with more than 3.1 million, an increase of 13.8%). In addition, the biggest increases in April were in the Belgian markets, up 20% year-on-year; Italy, up 18.2%, and in "rest of the world" visitors, up 14.8%.

In terms of spending, tourists from the United Kingdom - those who spend the most in our country - spent 1.598 billion euros in April, which represents growth of 18.7%. The second country in terms of spending was Germany, whose nationals spent 1.405 billion euros on their holidays in Spain, an increase of 12.3% compared to April 2023. In third place is France, with spending of 872 million euros and growth of 12.8%. Leading the countries with the highest growth in spending during April is Italy, whose nationals spent 22.7% more than in April 2023. In the first four months of 2024, the UK was the country with the highest cumulative spending (16.5% of the total), followed by Germany (13.3%) and the Nordic countries (7.9%).

Catalonia, the leader in April

Catalonia was the main destination for tourists in April, with 21.3% of the total, followed by Andalusia (15.4%) and the Balearic Islands (15.3%). Catalonia received 8.3% more tourists than in April 2023 (a total of 1.3 million); the number of tourists visiting Andalusia increased 4.4% to 1.2 million and the Balearic Islands received 1.2% more (1.1 million in total). The autonomous community with the highest year-on-year growth in April was Madrid, with an increase of 21.4%, followed by Valencia, with 16.2%. In the first four months of 2024, the communities that received the most tourists were the Canary Islands (5.5 million and an increase of 11.4% compared to the same period in 2023), Catalonia (5 million and an increase of 16.3%) and Andalusia (3.6 million, an increase of 13.5%).

Cumulative spending in the Autonomous Communities

The autonomous communities for the main destination with the greatest weight in tourist spending in April were Catalonia (with 18.9% of the total and an increase of 11.6% to 1.807 billion euros), the Canary Islands (17.5% and growth of 8.1% to 1.673 billion euros) and Andalusia (15.4% and 10.8%, which translates into a total of 1.471 billion euros). In the first four months, the regions with the highest cumulative spending were the Canary Islands (8.182 billion euros and 26.0% of the total), Catalonia (5.456 billion euros and 17.3%) and Andalusia (4.809 billion euros, 15.3%).

Non official translation