1.8 million international tourists visited Catalonia in September

Barcelona (CNA).- The leading destination in Spain for international tourists is Catalonia, even before the Balearic and Canary Islands. 1,797,966 tourists from all over the world visited Catalonia this September, which represents 25.1% of the total number of visitors to Spain, according to the 'Frontur' poll published this Thursday by the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism. Tourists from the UK still lead the ranking of foreign visitors, followed by Germans. Visits from France and the US to Catalonia grew the most. Although the figure is a 0,1% lower than in the same month last year, especially because of the decrease in the number of Russian and Italian tourists, the overall data is very positive; nearly 14 million international tourists visited Catalonia in the first nine months of the year, which is 3.2% higher than the same period last year.

The whole of Spain received 7.2 million international tourist in September and 25.1% of them chose Catalonia. In total, 1,797,966 tourists from all over the world visited the territory in September, according to the 'Frontur' poll published this Thursday by the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism. The figure is a 0,1% lower than in the same period last year, when 1,801,736 foreigners visited Catalonia. The second most visited Autonomous Community was the Balearic Islands, which also registered a slight decrease in the number of tourists during the month of September (-0.2%) but is still the choice of 23.6% of the tourists who visit Spain. Visitors from the UK still lead the ranking of foreign visitors in Spain, followed by Germans, who still hold second position even though the number of visitors decreased this September.

The issuing market which grew the most in Catalonia was France, followed by the US. On the other hand, the number of tourists from Russia and Italy fell this September. 

During the first nine months of the year, 54.4 million tourists from all over the world visited Spain, which is 3.8% higher than the same period last year. In relative terms, the issuing markets which registered the highest growth were Asian countries (+33.4%) and the US (+23.1%). Nearly 14 million international tourists visited Catalonia from January to September.