August was record month for tourism

According to the Ministry of Industry, a total of 9.1 million visitors spent at least one night in Spain in August 2014, an 8.8% increase on the same month last year and a new record.

The so-called ‘sun-and-sand’ formula continues to drive Spain’s economic recovery despite the hotel and restaurant industry creating mostly temporary jobs. In addition, visitors are increasingly choosing rental apartments over traditional hotels.

Rentals of holiday homes grew by 29.7% in August and there was a rise of 4% in the number of visitors who stayed in their own holiday homes or with friends and relatives.

A total of 53.7% of visitors stayed at hotels, down from 56% in August 2013.

Despite the overall positive increase, there are concerns that more and more people are staying in unlicensed rental properties rather than hotels or licensed properties.

In the period from January to August, a total of 45.4 million people visited Spain, up by 7.3% on the same period in 2013. Cataluña, the Balearics and the Canary Islands remain the top tourist destinations with six out of every 10 visitors visiting these regions in August.

British, French and German nationals continue to represent the majority of tourists heading to Spain’s coasts.

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