Spain receives 68.1 mln int'l tourists in 2015

Spain received a total of 68.1 million international tourists in 2015, breaking a new record high, according to provisional data published on Friday by Spain's Statistical Office (INE).

The figure meant a 4.9-percent increase when compared with a year earlier, when Spain had received 64.99 million foreign tourists.

British were first with 15.6 million arrivals, which meant a 4.5 percent increase. They were followed by French and Germans, whose arrivals reached 11.5 million and 10.2 million.

The northeastern region of Catalonia was the main destination in 2015 with 17.4 million of foreign tourists, followed by the archipelagos of the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands with 11.6 million international arrivals both.

In December alone, the country received 3.4 million international tourists, which meant 7.6 percent more than in the same month of a year earlier.

Tourists arriving from Britain rose by 13.7 percent to a total of 747,947 people, accounting for 21.6 percent of the total. British were followed by French accounting for 16.1 percent of the total, their arrivals increased by 9.2 percent to 557,992 people.

Germans were third; their arrivals (392,129) represented 11.3 percent of the total and meant a 9 percent fall when compared with a year earlier.

In December, the archipelago of the Canary Islands was the main destination accounting for 29 percent of total, followed by Catalonia and the southern region of Andalusia. Enditem