Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

TOURISM

Spain’s tourism earnings seen hitting new record despite growing anger

Spain's tourism sector is expected to post record revenues again in 2024, the Exceltur tourism association said Tuesday, adding it was concerned at locals' growing animosity against the country's mass tourism model.

Published: 16 April 2024 17:06 CEST
Spain's tourism earnings seen hitting new record despite growing anger
Tourists near Barcelona's Sagrada Familia. (Photo by PAU BARRENA / AFP)

It predicted tourism earnings will reach €202.65 billion ($215.4 billion) this year, an 8.6 percent increase over the record set in 2023 which had already seen “a spectacular rate of growth,” Exceltur vice president José Luis Zoreda told a news conference.

If confirmed, it will be the first time that tourism earnings in Spain – the world’s second most visited country after France – will surpass €200 billion, he added.

Spain is benefiting from the rebound in global travel, especially from the Asian market, following the end of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile security concerns in rival sunshine markets in the eastern Mediterranean due to the Israel-Hamas war were helping to drive up visitors to the country, Exceltur said.

The tourism sector is also getting a boost from the increase in air links as well as the arrival of new rail operators which has boosted competition and driven down the price of high-speed rail travel leading to higher domestic tourism, it added.

READ ALSO: All the new direct flights to and from Spain in 2024

Spain welcomed a record 85.1 million foreign visitors last year, mainly from Britain, France and Germany, according to national statistics institute INE.

The surge in visitor numbers has sparked a backlash from locals in tourism hotpots such as the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands and Málaga.

READ MORE: Why does hatred of tourists in Spain appear to be on the rise?

“Our concern is to continue to grow tourism in Spain so that it is sustainable and does not generate social revulsion,” Zoreda said when asked about the growth of these anti-tourism movements.

Exceltur groups Spain’s hotels, resorts, transport companies, car rentals and entertainment businesses.

READ ALSO: Why Spain is a cheap mass tourism destination

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

PROTESTS

In Images: Tenerife protesters call for marine theme park to ’empty the tanks’ 

Several weeks after huge anti-mass tourism protests on the Spanish island of Tenerife, environmentalists have targeted one of the island’s main tourist attractions - the Loro Parque zoo and marine park - which is owned by a German millionaire.

Published: 13 May 2024 13:13 CEST
In Images: Tenerife protesters call for marine theme park to 'empty the tanks' 

Dozens of protesters gathered at the gates of Loro Parque in the touristy town of Puerto de La Cruz on Saturday, shouting “stop animal exploitation”. 

Loro Parque is one of the top tourist attractions in Tenerife, starting off as a parrot sanctuary in 1972 but evolving into a zoo and SeaWorld-style marine complex which receives several million visitors a year. 

The owner of Loro Parque is 87-year-old German national Wolfgang Kiessling, the wealthiest man in Tenerife with an estimated net worth of €370 million.

Loro Parque’s owner Wolfgang Kiessling is the 169th wealthiest person in Spain. (Photo by DESIREE MARTIN / AFP)

Loro Park gained international notoriety after the release of the 2013 documentary Blackfish, which looked at the treatment of killer whales in captivity, and which partly focused on the death of an orca trainer in 2009 at Tenerife’s Loro Parque after being attacked by one of the animals. 

Protesters carried signs that read “no to animal abuse”, “those born to swim in oceans should not do so in tears” and “don’t lie to your child, there is no happiness in slavery”. 

There are currently four orcas at Tenerife’s Loro Parque. (Photo by DESIREE MARTIN / AFP)

The rally promoted by environmentalist group ‘Empty the tanks’ was held in 60 cities around the world on Saturday to demand the release of dolphins and orcas.

Protesters booed the Loro Parque train that took holidaymakers as it approached the facilities while showing them banners that read “tourist, what you pay is for slaughtered orcas” or “this shit at Loro Park is going to end” are other signs that were carried.

A half empty Loro Parque train faces the wrath of protesters calling for the park’s orcas to be released. (Photo by DESIREE MARTIN / AFP)

In late April, Kiessling released a controversial video in which he attacked environmentalists, stating: “They want us to live like vegans, not to have pets, not to use leather bags or shoes, and they also want to influence our holidays so that we do not visit zoos”.

He added: “A new industry has been born. They call themselves environmentalists, but they are not. They are just people in search of wealth. They want to change our world, live vegan, not wear wool, not drink milk, not ride horses, not have pets, not visit zoos”.

The Loro Parque has received large subsidies from the Canary government and benefited from tax incentives that allows them to pay taxes on only 10 percent of the profits. 

Billboards and dustbins across the island have promotional posters of Loro Parque on them, describing it as “the must-see of the Canaries”. 

A sign reads “Is suffering educational?” at another “Empty the Tanks” protest held outside Loro Parque in 2015. (Photo by DESIREE MARTIN / AFP)

The animal rights protest against Loro Parque comes just four weeks after thousands of canarios took to the streets of their eight islands to call for an end to mass tourism.

READ ALSO: ‘The island can’t take it anymore’: Why Tenerife is rejecting mass tourism

SHOW COMMENTS