Holidaymaker numbers reach new high: 71.5 million in 11 months

In November alone, 4.1 million foreign visitors arrived in Spain, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INE) based upon data gathered by the Tourist Movement Across Borders Survey (FRONTUR).

Already exceeding the expected 70 million by the end of the year, the final figure is likely to be even higher since the numbers counted to date only go up to the end of November.

Over these 11 months, the UK remained the most faithful to Spain with nearly 17 million holidaymakers – well over a quarter of the population of the British isles – travelled to the country, representing 23.7% of the total and a year-on-year increase of 12.3%.

French visitors were the second-largest national group, with 10.8 million travelling to Spain – up by 7.1% on the same period in 2015 – followed by Germans, who totalled 10.7 million, up by 6.1%.

The Irish represented the greatest growth, rising bby 22.7% to 1.74 million, followed by the Portuguese, up by 15.8% to 1.87 million.

And the Russian market is showing signs of recovery, growing by 1.8% to 920,000.

Catalunya continues to be the number one destination in Spain, accounting for 23.8% of the total number of holidaymakers, or 17 million, rising by 3.8% year-on-year.

The Balearics comes second, with 12.9 million visitors, up by 12%; the Canaries third with 12 million tourists, increasing by 12.7%; Andalucía fourth, with 10.1 million, rising by 12.9%; Valencia fifth, with 7.4 million, increasing by 16.8%, and Madrid sixth with 5.3 million tourists, up by 12.6%.

All bar 15 million stayed in paid accommodation with the remainder staying in their own holiday homes, those of friends or family, or with relatives or friends already living in Spain.

Photograph from the town hall in Gandia, Valencia province