The Canary Islands received more than 1.5 million international air passengers last April, 4.1% more than in the same month last year, according to data released this Friday by Turespaña. Thus, in the first four months of the year a total of 4.93 million international passengers arrived on the islands, 23.1% more than in the same period of 2022.
For its part, Spain as a whole received more than 8.1 million international passengers in April, up 16.9% year-on-year; while between January and April 25.26 million passengers arrived, 34.9% more than the previous year.
For the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Héctor Gómez, “these figures show that this first four-month period has been very good in terms of tourism”. This was highlighted in a press release by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism (Mincotur).
Gómez also stressed that Spain can boast of having a robust, quality sector, which is a source of wealth, employment and the best letter of introduction as a country.
PORTUGAL AND ITALY, THE FASTEST-GROWING COUNTRIES
In the fourth month of the year, the number of international passengers arriving in Spain from the main sending countries increased. Of the total number of passengers, 57.6% came from the European Union, an increase of 15.2%, while the flow from the rest of the world, which accounted for the remaining 42.4%, grew by 19.2%.
In terms of countries, and comparing with the figures for 2022, the markets that recorded the greatest growth were Portugal, with 31.9% more, followed by Italy and the United States, with 28.8% and 22.9% respectively.
For yet another month, the United Kingdom was the leading issuer by passenger volume in April (1.79 million), with an annual growth of 12.1%. This country represents 21.1% of the total share of arrivals in Spain.
The arrival of British passengers (which exceeds 5.2 million in the total so far this year) has had an impact on all the autonomous communities, but especially on the Canary Islands, which was the destination of 25.7% of its passengers.
After the United Kingdom, Germany continues to be the second country of origin of international passengers arriving in Spain. Passenger arrivals from Germany (14.5% of the total) increased by 4.8% in April, especially benefiting the Balearic Islands (37.3% of passengers).
From Italy, the third country of origin, 9.4% of the flow of passengers arrived in April, registering a year-on-year growth of 28.8%, which especially benefited Catalonia (30.3% of passengers) and Madrid (25.9%).
For its part, France issued 8.6% of the total number of passengers in April, showing a growth of 16.8%, which mainly favoured Madrid and Catalonia. In the case of the Netherlands, international passengers increased by 5.2% in April, with the main destinations being Valencia, Catalonia and Andalusia.
CATALONIA, THE REGION OF HIGHEST INCREASE
Madrid was the Community with the most international arrivals last month (22.3% of the total), followed by Catalonia (20.1%) and the Balearic Islands (15.7%). Of the six main regions, Catalonia recorded the highest year-on-year growth (21.9%), followed by Valencia (21.4%) and Madrid (20.4%). Growth in the six communities with the highest number of arrivals as a whole (the six together account for 96% of the total) was 16.5%.
In terms of airports, Ibiza airport experienced the highest year-on-year growth (27% compared to April 2022), followed by Valencia airport (with a growth of 24.6%).
In terms of total volume, Madrid’s Adolfo Suárez Madrid- Barajas airport reached 1.81 million international passengers in April, compared to the 1.55 million recorded at Barcelona’s El Prat airport; in third place was Palma de Mallorca, with a total of 1.03 million international passengers.
Of the total number of passengers arriving in Spain by air last month, the majority of them, 62.3%, chose low-cost airlines (CBC) to travel, which represents an increase of 16.9%, while those who travelled on traditional airlines occupied 37.7% of the remaining seats, an increase of 13.5%.
Although international air passengers are not equivalent to international tourists because they also include residents in Spain returning from an international airport, the vast majority of them are tourists.
