Foreign tourists spend 9.462 bln euros in August in Spain

Foreign tourists spent a total of 9.462 billion euros (about 10.6 billion U.S. dollars) in August, the largest amount for August since the historical series began, according to data released on Monday by Spain's Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism.

The figure meant a 4.1 percent increase when compared with the same month of a year earlier, while in the first eight months of the year foreign tourists spent more than 46.590 billion euros, 7 percent more than in the same period in 2014.

The average spending per tourist and visit stood at 1,026 euros in August, a 2.5 percent increase in comparison with a year earlier, while the average daily spending stood at 107 euros, 4.6 percent more than in the same month in 2014.

In august, tourists arriving from Britain spent 2.246 billion euros, a 7.7 percent increase when compared with August, 2014. They were followed by the French, who spent 1.3 billion euros, a 2.5 percent rise on 2014, and the Germans, who spent 1.176 billion euros, 7.9 percent less than in 2014.

The archipelago of the Balearic Islands received the largest amount of spending in August with 2.364 billion euros, which accounted for 25 percent of the total. The archipelago was followed by the northeastern region of Catalonia and southern Andalusia that received 2.241 billion euros and 1.407 billion euros respectively.

Spain is the second country in the world in terms of tourism spending while the third one in terms of international visitors.

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