Spain receives 3.67 mln int'l tourists in Feb.

Spain received a total of 3.67 million international tourists in the second month of the year, according to data published on Wednesday by Spain's Statistical Office (INE).

The figure meant a 13.7 percent rise when compared with the same month of last year, the INE said.

Arrivals from Britain reached 806,835 in February, which meant a 17.1 percent increase when compared with the same month of a year earlier. They represented 22 percent of the total number of arrivals.

The British were followed by the French, whose arrivals reached 529,716. The figure meant an 8.5 percent increase when compared with February, 2015. The Germans came third with 481,219 arrivals, which meant a year-on-year increase of 7.4 percent.

Tourists chose the archipelago of the Canary Islands as their first destination in February. It received more than 1.1 million international tourists (10.5 percent more than in February, 2015), representing 30.3 percent of the total.

The northeastern region of Catalonia received more than 930,000 international tourists in February and the southern region of Andalusia received more than 490,000.

Meanwhile, in the first two months of the year, Spain received 7.2 million international tourists, the INE said, which meant a 12.5 percent rise when compared with the same period of a year earlier.

Spain, which is one of the most visited countries in the world, received a record number of 68.1 million international tourists in 2015. Endit