Spain achieved its bumper year for tourism with great help from the British.
While there is scarcely anything new about Brits holidaying under the Spanish sun, this year they did so in increasing numbers.
Of the nearly eight million international tourists Spain welcomed just in September, more than two million of them had come from the British Isles.
Despite fears of the impact of the Brexit vote, 14.4 million Brits this year chose Spain as their destination. This is an increase of a hefty 13% more than in 2015.
Some 60.3 million visitors from abroad visited Spain in the January to September period, according to figures from the country’s statistics office, which noted that this 10% increase over last year had created a record number.
British visitors accounted for just about one quarter of the total.
More tourists from France (9.3 million), Germany (8.9 million) and Scandinavia also pumped up visitor numbers accompanied by a sharp rise in people from South America.
Six regions in Spain captured 91% of all the visitors. Most visited were the Balearic Islands, Catalonia, Andalusia, the Canary Islands, Valencia and Madrid.
British tourists frequented all of these areas, but were drawn particularly to the Canaries and Andalusia.
