Spain: 41 million tourists and 59 billion in summer

14-07-24

Spain is preparing to receive more than 41 million international tourists this summer, an increase of 13% over the previous year. According to data from Turespaña, spending by these visitors will reach 59 billion euros, an increase of 22%.

"The increase in spending, higher than the number of visitors, reaffirms the leadership of the tourism model and encourages us to continue working on a strategy of sustainable and inclusive Tourism," said Jordi Hereu, Minister of Industry and Tourism. Hereu stressed that this increase in tourism spending contributes significantly to GDP growth and employment in Spain. "Tourist spending represents an injection of prosperity for our country," he said.

The minister insisted on the importance of defending the social, environmental and economic sustainability of the tourism sector. "Tourism, as a generator of quality employment, contributes to a better redistribution of profit in the Spanish economy," Hereu added.

Hereu emphasized the need to continue managing tourism in collaboration with the Autonomous Communities and the industry in general. He proposed improving governance and investing to ensure that the benefits of tourism are distributed equitably throughout Spain throughout the year, to the benefit of the entire country.

Aid for tourism SMEs

In addition, the minister announced that a total of 327 projects will receive nearly 70 million euros in the second call for 'Last Mile' aid. These aids are aimed at boosting the digitalization of tourism SMEs, framed within the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan and financed with European Next Generation funds.

The second call has benefited 394 companies, as some projects require the collaboration of several entities. Catalonia, Madrid and Valencia are the autonomous regions where most companies have received these grants.

The grants are divided into three lines of financing:

• Line 1: Projects incorporating emerging or newly developed technologies with medium-low technological risk.

• Line 2: Projects demonstrating proven technologies such as Big Data, cybersecurity and mobile applications, with low technological risk.

• Line 3: SMEs that implement tested technologies related to sensorization, visitor safety, tourism demand and infrastructure equipment.