Spanish authorities revealed that the country welcomed almost 8.5 million passengers from international airports in September, 87.6% of those who arrived in the same month in 2019.

Commenting on the figures, Spain’s Tourism Minister Reyes Maroto said the tourism sector continues to recover and, at the same time, stressed that spending by tourists was close to reaching pre-existing levels. the pandemic.

“After an extraordinary high tourist season, today’s figures show that, despite the uncertainty of the international context, tourism continues on the road to recovery. Spending by international tourists is already close to pre-pandemic levels, and booking seats to fly to our country in the coming months reinforces the good outlook for this fall,” read Maroto’s statement.

According to the Spanish Ministry of Tourism, arrivals from the majority of countries have increased. However, it has been pointed out that the biggest increase has been in arrivals from Denmark and Portugal, reports SchengenVisaInfo.com.

The data shows that compared to pre-pandemic figures, arrivals from Denmark increased by 8.9% and arrivals from Portugal increased by 3.4% in September.

Spain also recorded a high number of arrivals from the United Kingdom. Spanish airports welcomed a total of 2,047,749 passengers from the UK in September. One in four British passengers have visited the Balearic Islands and 78.5% of them have traveled with a low-cost airline.

The number of arrivals from Germany was also high. Data provided by the ministry shows that the country’s airports received a total of 1,305,881 passengers, of which 15.4% visited the Balearic Islands.

In addition to the two countries mentioned above, a high number of arrivals also came from Italy. Spain welcomed 739,049 Italian passengers, and this marker recovered 93% of pre-pandemic levels in September.

The ministry further shows that the Canary Islands registered a high level of recovery in September, surpassing pre-pandemic levels by 0.1%. The Canary Islands were followed by the Balearic Islands, which reached 96% of 2019 levels.

“In the group of six communities with the most arrivals (97.1% of the total), the volume of international air passengers reached 87.9% of the figure for 2019. Among these six autonomous communities, Catalonia (87, 5%) and Madrid (85.3%) recorded the strongest year-on-year growth. » added the ministry.

The number of people choosing Spain as a travel destination is expected to increase further now that Spain has dropped all of its COVID measures. Previously, SchengenVisaInfo.com reported that Spain no longer enforces coronavirus-related entry rules for travelers from third countries. Additionally, the country no longer requires travelers to complete the health screening form.