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Record number of tourists in Spain

Rainman05

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Record number of tourists in Spain | euronews, world news

The tourist industry had suffered a five million drop in tourists at the height of the economic crisis in 2009, but July’s figures of 7.9 million visitors will come as a welcome relief to the recession struck peninsula, since the industry accounts for 11 percent of the country’s GDP.

So it's pretty safe to say that Spain has a killing tourist season. Much like in Greece, countries that were heavily affected by the crisis and have a high % of GDP in tourism, have lowered prices and that attracted many visitors which before may have had second thoughts or, for a steep price, prefered other locations. I think this is a good overall. I'd wish prices would drop everywhere and in all domains, not just tourism. Sadly, it's the policies of many countries to keep prices from going down.
 
From what I've heard about Spain, I wish I was there right now. Sex, drugs, rock and roll. What's not to like?

The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain.
 
-- I think this is a good overall. I'd wish prices would drop everywhere and in all domains, not just tourism. Sadly, it's the policies of many countries to keep prices from going down.

You could always get a week or two good holiday in Spain / Greece / Turkey (not talking sex-vodka-punchups-cockroaches 18-30's type holidays) for pretty low prices -not just this year.

Trouble starts after you've arranged the hotel and start to add air passenger duty /air tax/airport tax etc etc which seem to be mandated through the EU to cut down on air flights and air polution. Last year, the Spanish Govt raised airport taxes in order to help with budget deficit costs (expect some detail / correction from Andy/Pete sometime)

Hotels are cheap and have been for a long time - it's the bit between leaving your house and walking into your hotel that costs.
 
You could always get a week or two good holiday in Spain / Greece / Turkey (not talking sex-vodka-punchups-cockroaches 18-30's type holidays) for pretty low prices -not just this year.

Trouble starts after you've arranged the hotel and start to add air passenger duty /air tax/airport tax etc etc which seem to be mandated through the EU to cut down on air flights and air polution. Last year, the Spanish Govt raised airport taxes in order to help with budget deficit costs (expect some detail / correction from Andy/Pete sometime)

Hotels are cheap and have been for a long time - it's the bit between leaving your house and walking into your hotel that costs.

Yeah, well, I travel by train or by car. I never traveled by airplane. Neat info though, ty.
 
Yes, Spain is a very affordable place to visit at the moment. Hotels and eating out are very, very reasonable. In the resort I go to most you can get a nice, family-run hotel with AC, TV and breakfast for €50 a night for a double room. You can easily get dinner for €20 pp and, in the south east, you can still eat out for free on tapas, provided you are drinking healthily.

Looking forward to seeing y'all!
 
I can tell you that it is true... there are sooo many people here at the moment that it is insane.

As for why...

Prices: Prices have not per say fallen, but they have not gone up either, where as they have elsewhere in Europe, making it feel cheaper. Add to that, that it has always been relative cheaper in Spain vs the rest of Northern Europe, and you have a good combination. For example, eating out.. a family of 4 can easily eat out for under 40 euros for everything, including drink.

Housing: Hotel rental prices have come down, but not by much. What has happened is that people have changed their habits. Instead of going to a hotel, they rent a villa or apartment. And here the rental prices, relative to 5 years ago, have fallen quite a bit, making it cheaper to rent a villa with a pool near the beach, than living at a hotel. Despite this, hotel occupancy is very very high. I just had family here and they paid 1800 euros for a house with pool in the mountains for 7 people, including cleaning after the stay.. for 13 days. Thats about 20 euros per person per day for housing... only a student hostel can beat the price.

Arab Spring: This has had the biggest impact if you ask me. Instead of going to North Africa people are going the much safer areas of Spain, Italy and Greece. Add to that horror stories coming from Bulgaria and Turkey and you people going to safer places. I think Danish press had 2 stories within 2 months about mass food poisoning at Turkish resorts.. not exactly great PR so to say.
 
-- Arab Spring: This has had the biggest impact if you ask me. Instead of going to North Africa people are going the much safer areas of Spain, Italy and Greece. Add to that horror stories coming from Bulgaria and Turkey and you people going to safer places. I think Danish press had 2 stories within 2 months about mass food poisoning at Turkish resorts.. not exactly great PR so to say.

Yeah, there was always the risk of "added extras" with a holiday in a muslim country such as beheadings, rape, false imprisonment, terrorist attack at historic venues but adding wholesale revolution into the mix of a yearly family holiday is a bit too adventurous LOL.
 
Yeah, there was always the risk of "added extras" with a holiday in a muslim country such as beheadings, rape, false imprisonment, terrorist attack at historic venues but adding wholesale revolution into the mix of a yearly family holiday is a bit too adventurous LOL.

Not as adventurous as buying a coach-tip excursion in Italy or Thailand. If the faulty brakes don't get you, the pissed-up drivers will.
 
Looking good

youth%20unemployment%202013-thumb-570x365-123208.png
 
What on earth does this have to do with the subject?

I just spent the afternoon with a bunch of 6 unemployed mates watching the football (City - don't ask!). Anyway, they had to leave at half-time to go and take their tomato crops to the cooperativa. They're working 7-day weeks at the moment.
 
I just spent the afternoon with a bunch of 6 unemployed mates watching the football (City - don't ask!). Anyway, they had to leave at half-time to go and take their tomato crops to the cooperativa. They're working 7-day weeks at the moment.

Yep.. I have always said that the real unemployment numbers in Spain are considerably less than the official numbers. The underground economy is huge. And sorry about City... but Cardiff deserved that win... well played.
 
Yep.. I have always said that the real unemployment numbers in Spain are considerably less than the official numbers. The underground economy is huge. And sorry about City... but Cardiff deserved that win... well played.

Exactly. These percentages in the 20-50% range are ludicrous. On paper this area, one of the poorest comarcas in the country, has sky-high unemployment and yet every single one of my neighbours is working themself into the ground to harvest the tomatoes and habichuelas at the moment. At the very minimum 50% of them are registered unemployed but simply cannot afford to register as self-employed (which they are) because of the ridiculously inflated cost of paying self-employed rates of National Insurance. For some of the smaller farmers their self-employed contributions, which is a flat monthly fee, not a percentage of income, is more than they are earning from their crops.

No probs on the football. Cardiff well deserved that win. It was a good game to watch for a neutral. If only I'd been a neutral!!
 
I wish Spain well, It is by far one of the best countries I visited in Europe.
Everyone was polite and helpful. (sort of like Texas, but in Europe.:))
 
Too many fellow Brits and Germans in Spain.
 
I wish Spain well, It is by far one of the best countries I visited in Europe.
Everyone was polite and helpful. (sort of like Texas, but in Europe.:))

only less guns.
 
only less guns.
Funny that you should say that, I was checking into a hotel in Asturias several
years ago, and the man in front of me in line had a rifle on his shoulder.
It seems the area is big on hunting, and did not seem to have the rigid
gun control of other places in Europe.
I noticed, but no one else in the lobby even looked up, like it was a normal thing.
 
Funny that you should say that, I was checking into a hotel in Asturias several
years ago, and the man in front of me in line had a rifle on his shoulder.
It seems the area is big on hunting, and did not seem to have the rigid
gun control of other places in Europe.
I noticed, but no one else in the lobby even looked up, like it was a normal thing.

It is. Hunting is well-regulated but still very much legal, as is the ownership of guns to carry it out. There are checks carried out in order to own one, but once you have one no one is very paranoid about you actually taking it out and using it.
 
Only in the scuzzy bits; it depends where you go.

Yea... the bad ones are in my area and down to Gibraltar.. sigh.

oh and rain the next few days.. wtf it is not September 14th yet!!!!
 
Yea... the bad ones are in my area and down to Gibraltar.. sigh.

oh and rain the next few days.. wtf it is not September 14th yet!!!!

Rain! Yay!!!! Very happy about that and the drop in temperature. I took a 5k+ hike today for the first time in 2 months. That felt really good. I really hate high summer.
 
Only in the scuzzy bits; it depends where you go.

Where do you recommend? I have been all over the Costa Del Sol and found it to be very similar all over full of Brits and theme pubs, loved Valencia and Barcelona is a great city.
 
Where do you recommend? I have been all over the Costa Del Sol and found it to be very similar all over full of Brits and theme pubs, loved Valencia and Barcelona is a great city.

I certainly wouldn't recommend the Costa del Sol to anyone. Sorry, Pete. Not my cuppa at all. It depends what you're looking for.

If you want a beach holiday I'd head for the Cabo de Gata near Almería, or the Costa de la Luz between Tarifa and Cádiz. The advantage of the first of these two is the beautiful sandy coves, crystal clear waters that have fantastic snorkeling, and the quiet laid-back little resorts - not a single high-rise hotel anywhere. This is where I spend a lot of my time mid-summer, kayaking and snorkelling. It's only about 25 mins drive from Almería airport.

The advantage of the second is if you're into surfing, kite- or wind-surfing. It has amazingly beautiful beaches, but a lot of the time they aren't great for sunbathing because of the wind. Tarifa, Zahara, Los Caños and Conil are all quite cool little beach towns. Tarifa especially has a great atmosphere with loads of surfers, a few hippies, quite a few Moroccans and a very cosmopolitan vibe. It's about 45 mins drive from Gibraltar airport.

Was that any use?
 
I certainly wouldn't recommend the Costa del Sol to anyone. Sorry, Pete. Not my cuppa at all. It depends what you're looking for.

If you want a beach holiday I'd head for the Cabo de Gata near Almería, or the Costa de la Luz between Tarifa and Cádiz. The advantage of the first of these two is the beautiful sandy coves, crystal clear waters that have fantastic snorkeling, and the quiet laid-back little resorts - not a single high-rise hotel anywhere. This is where I spend a lot of my time mid-summer, kayaking and snorkelling. It's only about 25 mins drive from Almería airport.

The advantage of the second is if you're into surfing, kite- or wind-surfing. It has amazingly beautiful beaches, but a lot of the time they aren't great for sunbathing because of the wind. Tarifa, Zahara, Los Caños and Conil are all quite cool little beach towns. Tarifa especially has a great atmosphere with loads of surfers, a few hippies, quite a few Moroccans and a very cosmopolitan vibe. It's about 45 mins drive from Gibraltar airport.

Was that any use?

Cabo de Gata looks nice in the pictures and it has less Brits abroad?
 
Cabo de Gata looks nice in the pictures and it has less Brits abroad?

Yes. It's not somewhere many Brits seem to have found. The majority of the holidaymakers are Spanish. No Full English All-day Breakfasts anywhere. After this coming weekend, most Spanish workers return to work on Monday, it will be super relaxed and with the temperatures now in the upper-20s rather than the mid-30s, it's just perfect beach time.

If you're thinking of it, here's a lovely little family-run hostal that won't break the bank, I think it's about €60 a night for a double room with breakfast. It's 5 minutes walk from the beach, in the middle of town but quiet. You can fly direct to Almería from Manchester, E. Mids, Brum, Stansted and Gatwick.
 
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