Catalonia hosted 14.45 million foreign tourists in 2012, a 10% increase compared to 2011

Barcelona (ACN).- Catalonia receives 25% of all the foreigners visiting Spain, being by far the most popular destination. 14,447,814 foreign visitors travelled to Catalonia in 2012, a 9.9% increase compared to the 2011 figures, according to a survey on Frontier Tourist Movements (Frontur), released on Tuesday by the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism. Catalonia’s figure is particularly relevant compared to the Spanish average: 57,700,714 million foreign tourists visited Spain last year, a 2.7% growth compared to the previous year. The largest market sending tourists to Catalonia continues to be France. Other European countries such as the United Kingdom and Germany are increasing their share, as well as relatively new markets such as Russia and China.

The Autonomous Community receiving the second largest number of foreigners is the Balearic Islands, with 10.44 million, a 3.3% increase compared to 2011. It is followed by the Canary Islands with 10.14 million (-0.7%), Andalusia with 7.59 (-2.3%), the Valencian Country (also called Valencian Community) with 5.35 million (+0.2%) and the Community of Madrid with 4.49 million (+0.4%).

Regarding the data for December, the number of foreign tourists visiting Catalonia only that month was 622,258, a 7% increase compared to data from December 2011. Besides, 2,638,306 foreigners visited Spain in the last month of the year. Therefore, Catalonia attracted 23.6% of those international tourists, while the Canary Islands attracted 35%.