Brits spent €3.25m an hour in Spain in August

The value of British tourism to Spain has been laid bare in the latest official data that showed UK holidaymakers spent a massive €3.25 million every hour during the month of August.

Tourism, which is 11% of Spain’s GDP, is on course for a record year in 2017, with August’s visitor figures showing that 10.43 million people visited the country that month – the highest monthly figure ever recorded…

The National Statistics Institute (INE) data revealed that, while in Spain, holidaymakers spent a collective €11,342 million over August, which breaks down to €15.25 million every hour.

Brits alone poured €2,418 million into Spain’s coffers during August, which represents a 6.3% increase on August 2016 and 21.4% of all international tourism economic activity.

Meanwhile, spending by French and German holidaymakers rose by 3.1 and 4.1% respectively. The highest increase, however, came among Scandinavian tourists who spent €558 million in Spain in August – a massive 31% increase in the space of a year.

Beyond these strong markets, spending in Spain by the “rest of the world” increased 16.7%, accounting for almost half – 45.5% – of the total amount spent.

Taken as a year-to-date figure, the first eight months of tourist expenditure in Spain reached €60,461 million, which is an increase of 14.2% and a strong indication that the 12 months of 2017 will register a new record figure. Brits are on course to account for 20.4% of all foreign spending in the country this year (€12,316 million), which is an increase of 10.9%.