FLOCKING IN

International tourist trade up 130% in a year

THE number of tourists visiting Spain rebounded by 130% to 71.6 million in 2022, compared to the previous Covidhit year.

According to the Spanish statistics office (INE) the strong recovery was still not enough to match pre-Covid 2019, remaining 14% down.

On the map

By Dilip Kuner

ANTEQUERA’S new railway station is finally operational . Passengers can now choose between 22 daily trains that will link Antequera town centre to the AVE and Avant networks across Spain.

This was despite a strong recovery in the first half of the year, with foreign visitors at 92% of their pre-Covid level by July. But the recovery dipped in the second half of the year, possibly due to high inflation and energy prices hitting spending power. On the other hand, domestic tourism has recovered much faster, throwing a lifeline to the industry. Tourism industry body Exceltur’s Tourism Outlook report said the sector’s GDP reached €159 billion in 2022 - up 1.4% on the previous year and 4.7% on 2018.

Eight AVE trains will pass through Antequera AV station every day: six on the Granada-Madrid route and two between Granada and Barcelona, which will improve connections between the Malaga town and other cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, Zaragoza, Lleida and Tarragona.