MADRID – The coronavirus pandemic has pulverized Spain’s key tourism industry with arrivals dropping to 19 million in 2020, down from the near 84 million visitors the previous year.
The 77% decrease snapped a seven-year trend of annual records and ended a decade-long run of yearly increases. The National Statistics Institute said Wednesday that income from foreign tourism plunged in 2020 to just 20 billion euros ($24 billion), 79% less than the 92 billion euros received in 2019.
The private news agency Europa Press said the country had not received as few visitors from abroad since 1969. Prior to the pandemic and the subsequent travel restrictions imposed, tourism represented some 11% of Spain’s 1.1 trillion-euro GDP, making it one of the