Visitor numbers go sky high, Spain´s busiest year in history
Spanish airport operator labels 2016
as the busiest year ... ever.
According to the latest data released by AENA, the Spanish state owned airport operator, Spain enjoyed a record breaking 2016 when it came to the number of travellers visiting the country by air.
A total of 161.7 million international visitors passed through Spanish airports last year, confirming its global reputation for connectivity and accessability.
The Costa Blanca´s premier airport, Alicante-Elche, recorded historic high passenger numbers in 2016, handling the travel needs of 12.3 million people. The soaring figures represent an increase of 16.7% in passenger traffic, with 1.7 million more people travelling through Alicante-Elche airport in 2016 than in the previous year.
Almost half of the passengers travelling through Alicante-Elche originated from the UK (42%), indicating that the attraction for British tourists to the Costa Blanca remains strong.
Despite the uncertainty caused by Brexit, budget airline Jet2 announced that they plan to increase flights to Alicante-Elche by 40% between April and November this year from 9 regional airports in the UK, including London-Stansted, Edinburgh and Leeds-Bradford.
Spain enjoyed a bumper 2016 welcoming more sunseekers than ever before. 75.6 million people visited Spain in 2016 according to the latest INE data, an impressive year on year increase of 10.3%; and with Alicante-Elche airport already reporting a 15.5% increase in passengers travelling in January, 2017 looks like it´s going to be another record breaker.
Spain's real estate sector is also optimistic for another good year in 2017. The latest airport and tourism figures, combined with local sentiment means that the outlook for 2017 is positive, especially for the Costa Blanca, despite wider economic uncertainty throughout northern Europe.
Property buyers wishing to escape the political uncertainty at home, need look no further than the beautiful Orihuela Costa located within the south Costa Blanca. Despite moderate rises in Spanish property prices it is still possible to pick up a villa close to the Meditteranean beaches for less than €100,000 (approximately £86,000). Click here to take a look, or click here to start your search for a place in the sun.
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