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Vulture returns
THE black vulture (Aegypius monachus) disappeared from the Pyrenees during the second half of the 19th century.
Hosteltur hospitality association says Spain is set for another year of tourism excellence after recovering and surpassing 2019 visitor rates during 2022.
Betty Henderson
SPAIN has kicked off the new year with a tourism boom!
January saw a whopping 4.1 million international tourists flocking to the sunny shores of Spain according to the latest report, marking a 65.8 per cent increase from the same period last year.
Data from hospitality organisation, HOSTELTUR’s latest report released on Friday, March 3 revealed the impressive trends. Leading the charge was the United Kingdom, with a staggering 103.6 per cent increase in visitors, followed by France and Germany.
Nearly 18 per cent of visi tors, a total of 742,212, came from the UK, while France and Germany contributed 485,116 and 478,258 visitors, respectively.
But it’s not just the usual suspects that are showing up in droves, the number of visitors from the USA has surged by 102.8 per cent, while Italy contributed with a growth rate of 78.6 per cent.
The total spending by foreign visitors also reached €5.218 billion, up by 71.7 per cent.
As for the most popular destination, the Canary Islands took the crown with 29 per cent of the total, receiving 1.2 million visitors.
Today, almost 200 years later, and as a result of a number of public and private initiatives taken during this time, a colony of black vultures has been consolidated in the Caza de Boumort National Park (Lleida). The news is supported by the latest figures provided by Trenca (an entity dedicated to conservation).
The last year 2022, in the Caza de Boumort National Park (in the Pallars Jussa, Catalan PrePyrenees, the nerve centre of the reintroduced population), 65 individuals of black vulture were counted, 18 pairs were formed and 11 chicks were born, of which nine fledged. Of these, four were tagged with a GPS so their movements can be tracked in greater detail.
Spain is home to 86 per cent of the total European black vulture population (distributed between Extremadura, CastileLa Mancha, CastileLeon, An dalucia, Madrid and Catalonia). The species is listed as Vulnerable both in the Red Book of Birds of Spain and in the Spanish Catalogue of Threatened Species. In Catalonia, the black vulture is considered a protected native wildlife species.
