Catalonia welcomes 1.6 million tourists in September, 17% fewer than in 2019

While still low compared to pre-pandemic levels, tourism figures are recovering: in September, 1,652,459 tourists traveled to Catalonia, 88.2% more than in 2021 (877,825) but still 17.8% fewer than in 2019, according to Spain's National Statistics Institute (INE).

In September, two out of three visitors that came to Spain went to Catalonia, where overall they spent €1.86 billion, which is still 18.2% lower than in 2019, but 135% higher than last year. On average, tourist expenses are of €198 per day.

This is €23 more than what visitors spent per day last year and €13 more than in 2019. All in all, authorities registered 9.4 million overnight stays.

French residents accounted for the larger proportion of visitors (17.1%), followed by Brits (12.8%).

Catalonia was the second most popular Spanish destination for international visitors in September, after the Balearic Islands (24.3%), followed by Andalusia (14.3%). 

Since January 2022, the territory has welcomed 11.5 million visitors, 208.2% more than in 2021. However, it is still far from the 15.6 million tourists that came to Catalonia between January and September 2019.