A record-breaking 2.3 million foreign tourists visit Catalonia in July

Barcelona (CNA).- Catalonia, with its magnificent beaches on the Mediterranean, the delightful masterpieces of Gaudí in Barcelona and its world-renowned gastronomy, is a premium destination for tourists from around the word; and the figures prove this. The country is experiencing a record-breaking tourism season, with some 2,340,299 foreign tourists visiting Catalonia in July, an increase of 9.12% on the same month last year. Catalonia is by far the most visited Autonomous Community in Spain, hosting 26.6% of the total number of tourists.  

The figure for international visitors in Catalonia is the highest since statistics from the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism started fifteen years ago. July 2015 was also the second-best month since 2000, trailing only August 2014, when 2,411,942 tourists visited Catalonia. Overall, Catalan tourism is experiencing a great year, with an also record-breaking 9.7 million tourists visiting since January; an increase of 5.5% in comparison to the same period last year. 

Catalonia is the most visited Autonomous Community in Spain, followed by the Balearic Islands, Andalusia, the Canary Islands and Valencia. 26.6% of tourists visiting Spain go to Catalonia, 24.3% go to the Balearic Islands, 12.5% go to Andalusia, 10.8% visit the Canary Islands and 10.4% head to Valencia. Madrid receives 5.1% of the visitors and the remaining 10% go to other regions in Spain.

As in Catalonia, July was also a very positive month for tourism in Spain as a whole, with 8.8 million visitors, an increase of 6.3% in comparison to last year. Since this year started, 37,975,920 foreign tourists have visited Spain, a record figure that is 4.7% higher than the same period in 2014. Most of the tourists come from the United Kingdom, France and Germany. There has also been a remarkable increase in the number of visitors from the US, which increased by 40% for July 2015 in comparison to the same month last year.