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The arrival of foreign tourists to Spain, as well as the expenditure made in the country, fell 100% in April as a result of the declaration of a state of alarm , which established the closure of borders to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, according to has informed this Monday the National Statistics Institute (INE).

The agency reminds that from the middle of march was abolished de facto the flow of international visitors with destination to Spain for tourist purposes by different access paths considered in the surveys Frontur and Egatur (roads, ports, airports, or railways).

however, there were some exceptions on the flow of people that can cross the Spanish border, as is the case of Spanish citizens resident in other countries which have permitted access to the Spanish territory, as well as other travellers with good cause that could be considered, in some cases, visitors. However, the INE, “the reduced volume of these flows and the impossibility of his characterization accurate (can hardly be understood that the reason of their displacement is cheap) is strongly discourage the posting of the same”.

As a result, during the month of April, the number of international visitors with destination Spain for tourist reason in all the ways of access, has been zero. The same thing happens with the spending of international visitors with destination Spain. So far this year, the flow of tourists has dropped a little over 50% , while the expenditure has been reduced by 47.9%.

In the month of march, which was affected by the alarm state for two weeks, Spain received only two million international tourists, a figure that represents 64.3% less compared to the same month of 2019. This lower influx of tourists was reflected in the expenditure: the foreign tourists who visited Spain in march spent $ 2.215 billion euros, 63.3% less than in the same month in 2019.