Costa Blanca

The Valencian Community leads the growth of foreign tourism in Spain in 2024

The Valencian Community is leading the growth of foreign tourism in Spain in 2024, recording a year-on-year increase of 14% in the number of arrivals of foreign visitors and 21.3% in their tourist spending, thus exceeding the national average growth of 10.1% and 16.1% respectively.

According to the results of the surveys published this Monday by the National Institute of Statistics, and referring to Tourist Movements at the Border (Frontur) and the Tourist Expenditure Survey (Egatur), the Valencian Community has registered a record of foreign tourist arrivals for a year with 11,938,668 international tourists. In 2023, a total of 10.5 million foreign tourists visited the region.

The disbursement has also been historic with 15,1 billion euro in 2024. The market that has contributed most to this increase in accumulated foreign spending in the Valencian Community has been the British market, which has spent 3,3 billion euro from January to December, 23% more than in the previous year. It is followed by the French market, which has left 2,4 billion euro, 20% more year-on-year, and the Nordic countries, which, with 1,7 billion euro spent, have increased their spending by 35.1% year-on-year.

The regional minister for Innovation, Industry, Trade and Tourism, Marián Cano, stressed that “these are the best results in the entire historical series, thus continuing the upward trend in foreign tourism in recent months”. She also stressed that “we have managed to close the year meeting forecasts, both in arrivals and in revenue, despite the adversities”.

For the head of Tourism, these results reinforce the importance and positioning of the Valencian Community as a top-level tourist destination in international markets, “we continue to be a destination open to the world,” she added.

Cano also highlighted the significant growth in tourism spending, which she says “will continue to evolve favourably in the Valencian Community in 2025, a year in which a new record is expected in this activity”. The councillor recalled that increasing foreign spending is one of the challenges that this Council has always had, and stressed that “we will continue with this commitment, since there is strength in demand; in addition, deseasonalisation will contribute to spreading it beyond the natural limits of the high season”.

She also wanted to underline the commitment of the Generalitat to “continue promoting the Valencian Community both in consolidated markets and in new emerging markets, such as the United States, China and Japan.”

Average spending and arrivals by market

In 2024, each foreign visitor spent an average of 1,271 euro in the Valencian Community, 6.4% more than the previous year, and with an average stay of 9.7 days, 2.7% higher than in 2023. The average daily expenditure stands at 131 euro, which represents a year-on-year growth of 3.6%.

By market, the most important nationality for the Valencian Community continues to be the United Kingdom, with the arrival of 2,944,576 Brits in 2024, 10.9% more year-on-year.

France is next with 2,259,403 tourists, 14.9% more than the previous year; the Nordic countries with 1,038,311 tourists, 19.9% more than the previous year; and the Netherlands, with 906,776 visitors, representing a growth of 16.6%.

In addition, the German market is expected to grow by 3% in 2024 with the arrival of 757,544 Germans and tourists from Italy reaching 589,268, 4.5% more than in the previous year.

December month results

In December alone, international tourists visited the Valencian Community in total, amounting to 667,825, spending 850 million euro, which represents a year-on-year increase of 2.2%.

In the same month, each visitor spent an average of 1,272 euro, 9% more than in December 2023; and spending per day reached 111 euro, 6.5% more year-on-year. The average length of stay among tourists was 11.5 days with 7.7 million overnight stays.

By market, the main emitters were the British, which grew by 3.4%, the French and the Nordic countries, the latter with a significant year-on-year increase of 59.4%. However, arrivals of Italian and German tourists were affected.

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Two police officers injured by a distracted driver in Santa Pola

According to the official channels of the force, a severe road accident on Avenida del Mediterráneo in Gran Alacant, Santa Pola, has resulted in the injuries of numerous individuals, including two local police officers.

The accident occurred as a result of a distracted driver at the wheel, resulting in the car colliding with the police vehicle.

The images released show the significant impact suffered by the officers’ vehicle, as well as the frontal damage to the other vehicle involved.

No details have been released regarding the severity of the injuries of those involved, although a message of hope for a speedy recovery has been conveyed to the injured.

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Firefighters rescue driver trapped in car on Torrevieja seafront

Firefighters from the Torrevieja fire station rescued a woman after her vehicle plunged off the seafront promenade at 06:07 this morning; emergency personnel responded with the assistance of the local authorities.

The driver, a 79 year old woman of foreign nationality, was driving the vehicle along the promenade when it was involved in an accident. The vehicle plunged down the embankment, a drop of over half a metre and leads to the rocks in the heart of Torrevieja.

The victim was unable to exit the vehicle independently due to the door being obstructed by the rugged terrain, necessitating the arrival of firefighters to the scene. Medical services treated her for minor injuries following the rescue. Cars are only authorised on the promenade for residents.

The local authorities are currently conducting an investigation into the causes.

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Alicante couple arrested for trying to defraud lottery winner out of 40,000€ with a fake 6€ ticket

In Alicante, National Police officers have arrested a 37-year-old man and a 42-year-old woman, who are purportedly involved in fraudulent activities. After successfully deceiving the proprietor into believing that the prize was only €6, the suspects attempted to cash in a lottery ticket valued at €40,000.

A citizen lodged a complaint alleging fraud, which prompted the investigation. She complained that she had acquired a lottery ticket and, the day following the drawing, visited a lottery kiosk to determine whether the ticket was eligible for a prize.

The seller informed her that the system was not functioning properly and that she could verify it using her mobile phone after verifying the ticket with the authorised ticket dispenser (POS). The vendor informed her that the ticket had a prize of six euros when she viewed it on the terminal.

For her part, the victim trusted the provided information and accepted the money without suspecting deception. At the same time, the seller retained the lottery ticket.

A few days later, the complainant discovered that the was infact worth 40,000 euros and that she had been deceived. She returned to the stand where she had checked the ticket to claim her prize, and the seller informed her that she was unaware of this and that she had thrown it in the bin.

Then, she proceeded to the authorised offices of the aforementioned lottery drawings to report the incident. Upon his arrival, she was instructed to submit a complaint regarding the events.

The agents verified that the coupon was indeed a prize after collecting all the information. The saleswoman confirmed on three separate occasions that she had retained the coupon after deceiving the complainant about the prize amount.

The investigation phase also disclosed that the lottery ticket had been attempted to be redeemed by the seller’s ex-partner. However, this was not accomplished due to the fact that the authorised collection offices were aware of the incident and the agents had requested that the payment of the prize be blocked.

The officers were able to corroborate that the seller and the individual who attempted to cash in the winning ticket were both involved in a fraudulent activity as a result of the investigations.

The investigators’ findings confirmed that the two suspects had reached an agreement to collect the winning ticket. They also discovered that the woman, a lottery seller, had deceived them by faking the malfunction of the POS machine and falsely informing the complainant that the prize was six euros.

Following the investigation and the collection of sufficient evidence to establish their involvement in the events, they were apprehended and charged with fraud.

The courts in Alicante were informed of the situation subsequent to the police investigation.