SPAIN seems to be as popular as ever with British holidaymakers although the growth has virtually stopped according to figures released by the Spanish Institute for Tourism Statistics. During the first six months of 2004 there were a total of 7,289,535 registered British tourist arrivals to Spain, a 1.77% increase compared to the figures during the same period of 2003. The Canary Islands, still the favourite destination for UK visitors, having received 1,911,448 British holidaymakers to date; closely behind them are the Balearics and Andalusia, following a similar pattern to 2003. In terms of growth, Madrid has had an outstanding 47% increase of British visits in the first six months of the year in comparison to 2003. It will be interesting to look at the figures for the second half of the year and consider if the Gibraltar factor is causing the slowdown in the growth. These numbers do no include those arriving by road.
http://www.iet.tourspain.es