A comparison of foreign arrivals in Spain between the months of 2019 and 2020
Tourism has been one of the industries hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, a fact illustrated in Spain, which recorded a 75% fall in visitor numbers for July against last year.
The dramatic loss of tourism revenue for Spain will mean a huge hit for the country’s economy, as more than 12% of its GDP came from tourism in 2018 and 2019.
There were hopes of saving the summer season as European countries managed to get their coronavirus numbers down through lockdowns and restrictive measures, with Spain enforcing one of the strictest lockdowns in the world in March.
But with a resurgence of cases as those restrictions were lifted, the numbers for July - when the borders reopened - suggest those hopes have not been realised. The COVID-19 outbreak has made this the worst tourism season for Spain in decades.
