The number of overnight stays in Spanish hotels booked by tourists rose to more than 4 million in April. That is 85 percent less than in the same month in 2019, before the corona crisis. The Spanish statistical office reports this.

In 2020, there were zero overnight stays by tourists in April due to strict lockdown measures in place in the country due to the coronavirus outbreak. The number rose 15 percent in April this year from March 2021.

On June 7, Spain will open its doors to all visitors who have been vaccinated against the coronavirus. That said the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Friday at a tourism fair in Madrid. Britons are allowed to come from Monday.

Spain is in dire need of income. Before the corona crisis, the country earned about 12 percent of its gross domestic product from its massive tourism sector.

In 2019, more than 83.5 million tourists visited Spain. More than a fifth was British and 4.4 percent Dutch in that year. At least 2.5 million people worked in the Spanish tourism sector at the time. Unemployment has risen sharply in the past year.