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Spain Set for Record Tourist Numbers in 2024 after First-Half Jump

FILE PHOTO: Tourists and residents drink on a street in Gracia neighborhood during a heatwave of the summer, in Barcelona, Spain August 19, 2023. REUTERS/Bruna Casas//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Tourists and residents drink on a street in Gracia neighborhood during a heatwave of the summer, in Barcelona, Spain August 19, 2023. REUTERS/Bruna Casas//File Photo
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Spain Set for Record Tourist Numbers in 2024 after First-Half Jump

FILE PHOTO: Tourists and residents drink on a street in Gracia neighborhood during a heatwave of the summer, in Barcelona, Spain August 19, 2023. REUTERS/Bruna Casas//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Tourists and residents drink on a street in Gracia neighborhood during a heatwave of the summer, in Barcelona, Spain August 19, 2023. REUTERS/Bruna Casas//File Photo

The number of foreign tourists in Spain jumped 13% in the first-half of 2024, putting the country on track for another record year for visitor numbers despite growing discontent over the impact of the holiday industry in some tourist hotspots.
For the six months to the end of June, 42.5 million international visitors arrived in Spain, with the month of June alone recording a 12% rise to 9 million as the busier summer period picks up, Spain's data agency INE reported on Friday.
That means 2024 is shaping up to be another record year for Spain, already the world's second most visited country behind France, making it likely it will beat last year's high of 85 million tourists, when numbers exceeded pre-pandemic levels, said Reuters.
But for some Spaniards in the most popular destinations including Mallorca, Barcelona and the Canary Islands, there is increasing unease about the influx of tourists and their impact on housing costs and locals have staged protests.
Earlier in July, a small group of anti-tourism campaigners in Barcelona squirted water pistols at foreign visitors, chanting "tourists go home", a demonstration that created headlines around the world.
Data showed that tourists spent 12.3 billion euros in Spain in June, 17% more than the same month last year, helping drive economic growth, but highlighting the challenge for a government trying to find the right balance between tourism and local interests.
A lack of affordable housing in Spain has been partly blamed on a boom in holiday lets on platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com.
According to the data released on Friday, tourists are increasingly opting to stay in rented apartments. The number of visitors in the first-half of the year staying in that type of accommodation was up 30%, while those staying in hotels was up 11%.

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New Tourist Limits Get Warm Welcome in Venice

Tourist walk in Saint Marks Square on the day Venice municipality introduces a limit for tourist groups to 25 people to protect the fragile lagoon city and reduce the pressure of mass tourism in Venice, Italy, August 1, 2024. REUTERS/Manuel Silvestri Purchase Licensing Rights
Tourist walk in Saint Marks Square on the day Venice municipality introduces a limit for tourist groups to 25 people to protect the fragile lagoon city and reduce the pressure of mass tourism in Venice, Italy, August 1, 2024. REUTERS/Manuel Silvestri Purchase Licensing Rights
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New Tourist Limits Get Warm Welcome in Venice

Tourist walk in Saint Marks Square on the day Venice municipality introduces a limit for tourist groups to 25 people to protect the fragile lagoon city and reduce the pressure of mass tourism in Venice, Italy, August 1, 2024. REUTERS/Manuel Silvestri Purchase Licensing Rights
Tourist walk in Saint Marks Square on the day Venice municipality introduces a limit for tourist groups to 25 people to protect the fragile lagoon city and reduce the pressure of mass tourism in Venice, Italy, August 1, 2024. REUTERS/Manuel Silvestri Purchase Licensing Rights

Venetians and visitors alike welcomed new rules introduced on Thursday to limit the size of tourist groups in the latest effort to reduce overcrowding.

Tourist parties will be capped at 25 people and guides will be barred from using loudspeakers to help the flow of pedestrians and make it more peaceful for residents, Reuters reported.

"I think it's right," said 81-year-old local Edie Rubert.

"It would be better to reduce it more. Because you can't walk along the narrow canalside streets when these groups are there," she added, saying it was even worse when she needed to use her shopping trolley.

In April, Venice became the first city in the world to introduce a payment system for visitors in an experiment aimed at dissuading daytrippers from arriving during peak periods.

Sebastian Fagarazzi, co-founder of the 'Venezia Autentica' (Authentic Venice) Tourist Enterprise, said more action was needed.

"It's probably a good decision in that regard, but it's not going to be enough. Tourism in Venice has pushed out 72% of the inhabitants in the past 70 years, so 28% only remain today," he said.

Venice's historic centre had more than 170,000 residents in 1954, according to city authorities. Last year, they were down to just over 49,000.

"As a consequence, it's not enough to just make smaller groups or, for example, ask people to pay a small tourism tax. What must be done is to rethink tourism in order to support the local community," added Fagarazzi, whose organisation aims to support more sustainable tourism.

The restrictions, which cover the city centre and also the islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello, also got a thumbs-up from some tourists themselves.

"Yeah, I think it's good. I mean, it's very, very congested in a lot of places," said Mark Kerr, visiting from Scotland.

"In particular, yesterday we were at the St. Mark's Basilica and the queues were massive to get in, so I think there's a need to manage it, is probably the best way I can describe it."