Representatives of Spanish tourism are skeptical about the season

Representatives of Spanish tourism are skeptical about the current summer season. The reason is a renewed increase in the number of people infected with the new coronavirus. Although the season should be better than last year, compared to the summer season of the pre-pandemic year 2019, sales are likely to be more than a third lower. Spain is currently struggling with a rapid increase in the number of people infected with the new coronavirus, as a result of the spread of a much more contagious variant of the delta. As José Luis Zoreda, vice-president of the Spanish Tourism Council Exceltur, told the Spanish television station RTVE, they have recently seen a "sharp drop" in bookings by foreign tourists. "If data on the new coronavirus continue to deteriorate further, we estimate that tourism will record a turnover of € 37.97 billion this summer quarter, up € 24.3 billion more than in the same period last year, but significantly less than in 2019, when tourism had a turnover of 58.37 billion euros in the same period, "said Zoreda. The tourism sector expected that, given the vaccination campaign, this summer season would make a significant contribution to its recovery. Under normal circumstances, tourism accounts for about 12 percent of Spain's gross domestic product (GDP) and, in the case of islands such as the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands, up to 35 percent. However, following the re-emergence of new coronavirus infections due to the spread of the more infectious delta variant, regions such as Catalonia, Valencia and Cantabria have taken new anti-pandemic measures, including a ban on overnight stays in some areas. According to the daily El País, out of the country's 47 million inhabitants, approximately 8 million people are infected with the new coronavirus.