Spain
Spain is a tourist destination, welcoming millions of tourists each year attracted by its beaches, the abundant artistic heritage of the country, and the variety of gastronomic offer, in addition to being one of the most beautiful and richest nations of the world in cultural heritage due to its wide variety of yourist destinations
Tourism is one of the key factors of the Spanish economy. In previous decades, sun and beach tourism were almost exclusively promoted, to which a warmer and sunnier climate than other European countries contributed (and still contributes). Summer temperatures usually vary between 20 and 40º or more, and many regions have more than 300 days of sunshine a year, with generally dry summers. Many coastal localities, particularly in Levante, are full of hotels, restaurants and giant apartment blocks on the sea front.
The Spanish gastronomy is wide and varied, with such typical dishes as paella, stew from Madrid, Spanish cured ham, seafood from Galicia and tapas. Olive oil, for which Spain is the leading productive country, is used in a wide variety of dishes and is highly appreciated in other countries.
Spain is the second country worldwide which receives most foreign tourists according to the World Tourism Organization, just behind France, and enjoys 7% of the world's tourism quota, ahead of the United States and Italy.
Catalunya is the leading tourist destination in Spain. The 15 million visiting tourists represent 25.3% of the total arrivals registered throughout Spain, and represents an increase of 6.9% with respect to the same period for the previous year.
According to estimates by the World Tourism Organization, the arrival of foreign tourists to Spain will grow at an average annual rate of 5% over the next twenty years, so Spain is expected to receive 75 million foreign tourists in 2020, almost 20 million more than those received in 2005.
