Foreign tourists spend 37.129 bln euros in Spain until July

Foreign tourists spent a total of 37.1 billion euros (about 41.5 billion U.S. dollars) in Spain in the first seven months of the year, according to data released on Thursday by the Spanish ministry of industry, energy and tourism.

The figure indicated a 7.7-percent increase when compared with the same period of a year earlier, with average spending per tourist rising by 2.9 percent to 978 euros and average daily spending increasing by 3.8 percent to 113 euros.

Tourists arriving from Britain spent 7.580 billion euros, which meant an 11.2-percent increase when compared with the same period of a year earlier, and accounting for 20.4 percent of the total.

Britons were followed by Germans who spent 5.5 billion euros, a one-percent increase, and represented 14.9 percent of the total, while the French, in third position, spent 3.6 billion euros, increasing their spending by 10.6 percent year-on-year and representing 9.7 percent of the total.

The northeastern region of Catalonia received the largest sum with 8.6 billion euros spent in the first seven months of the year, followed by the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands which brought in 7.3 billion euros and 6.0 billion euros respectively.

In July alone, international tourists spent 8.8 billion euros, reflecting an 8.8-percent increase. The average spending per tourist stood at 1,007 euros, a rise of 2.4 percent, while the average daily spending stood at 106 euros, an increase of 2.7 percent.

Spain is the second country in the world in terms of tourism spending and the third in terms of number of international visitors after France and the United States.

Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said the country could receive 68 million international tourists this year, breaking the record high. (1 euro = 1.12 U.S. dollars) Endit