Spain received a total of 85.1 million international tourists in 2023, a 19% increase over the previous year, according to the latest report by the National Statistics Institute.

Last year, the number of foreign visitors to the country topped the 83.5 million who travelled to Spain in 2019, before the pandemic restrictions ruled out most leisure travel.

The majority of tourists visiting Spain in 2023 were from the UK, France and Germany, Yahoo News reports.

According to the National Statistics Institute, Spain’s income from foreign visitors hit €108.7 billion last year, a rise of 25% from 2022.

In regard to this year, the positive trend within the tourism industry continues.

A total of 4.8 million international tourists visited Spain in January, a 15.3% increase over January 2023.

Furthermore, tourist spending hit a new all-time high, with foreign visitors bringing in around €6.5 billion, an increase of more than 25% compared to January’s figure the year before.

In terms of the most visited region in the country by international tourists, the Canary Islands topped the list with 27.72% of the total number, followed by Catalonia with 20.11% and Andalucía with 13.98%.

Indeed, the Andalucía region welcomed 666,363 international visitors in January, a 17.39% compared to the same month in 2023, spending around €901 million, 33% more than the previous January.

Once again, the majority of foreign visitors to Spain in January were from the UK, with a total of 833,400 visitors, representing over a 12% rise compared to January last year.

Tourists from France were the second highest, with 571,700 visitors, an 18% increase compared to January 2023, followed by Germany with 551,300 tourists, representing a 14.9% increase over the previous January.

As it stands, tourism makes up 12% of Spain’s GDP.