Foreign tourists' spending in Spain increases 9 pct in 2016

Foreign tourists in Spain spent some 77.6 billion euros (83.6 billion U.S. dollars) in 2016, up 9 percent from the previous year, according to data released Friday by Spain's Statistical Office.

British tourists spent the largest amount of money in Spain, which reached 16.2 billion euros (17.3 billion dollars), a 12.8-percent increase compared with 2015.

The British were followed by Germans and French, who spent 11.07 billion euros (11.8 billion dollars) and 6.8 billion euros (7.3 billion dollars), respectively.

In December alone, foreign tourists spent 4.5 billion euros (4.8 billion dollars), up 19.3 percent year-on-year.

In the same month, the average spending per tourist stood at 1,131 euros (1,210 dollars), while the average daily spending stood at 124 euros (133 dollars).

Spain received a record 75.6 million international tourists in 2016. It is one of the most visited destinations in the world, ranking the first in the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report published by the World Economic Forum. Endi