About Us Contact Us Site Map

Tourism

Tourist favourite

Ever since Franco decided that tourism was welcome within his dictatorship, Spain has been a popular tourist destination. In 2006 it remained the second most visited tourist destination in the world, after France and before the United States, receiving 59 million arrivals during the year. Figures since 2000 show that the annual number of visitors is still rising after nearly 40 years.

Popular regions

Andalucia has always been a favourite with visitors due to its climate. With temperatures as high as 35ºC in summer and 20ºC in winter, and sunshine for 320 days of the year, it provides an almost tropical holiday without the long-haul flights. It was Andalucia where tourism started with a bang in the 1960s, and the small fishing villages on its coastline became targets for sun-seekers. Places like Torremolinos, Fuengirola and Benalmadena on the Costa del Sol (Malaga) were the original bucket-and-spade package holidays.

New destinations

However, tourism in Spain has changed considerably over recent years, and many of the millions of visitors that flock to the country each year are now preferring to move away from the traditionally popular regions of the Costa del Sol and the Costa Blanca. The unspoilt beaches and traditional towns along the Costa de la Luz, the Atlantic-facing coast, are rising in popularity with visitors and property investors, and transport links are opening up new parts of the country to visitors – for example the city of Jerez in the Province of Cadiz. Almeria and its next door neighbour Murcia are current hotspots. Resorts and new developments are springing up in La Manga in the Mar Menor, Mojacar and Roquetas de Mar in what were traditionally exclusively agricultural areas.

Golf tourism

Spain is synonymous with golf, and has many world famous courses such as Valderrama in Sotogrande, Cadiz, which is the current home of the Volvo Masters and was the home of the Ryder Cup in 1997. The golf season in Spain never really ends thanks to perfect golfing conditions, helping to boost tourism numbers even further.

Sun and ski

Spain can also offer mountains and snow in the shape of Sierra Nevada in Granada. The ski resort has been gaining popularity over the last few years, especially with the opening of Granada’s airport to international routes. It has 65km of slopes and snow for five months of the year, enhanced by snow machines that can guarantee snow throughout the season.

Related items

Documents and Reports

	Spain property investment report (418Kb)
	Spain country guide (999Kb)
	Spain property buying guide (965Kb)
Documents and Reports

Other related pages

Bookmark with:	What are these?
DeliciousDiggredditFacebookStumbleUpon