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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Missing Persons Association searching for Stiven, 26, who disappeared from Elche

The SOS Missing Persons Association has issued an urgent alert concerning the disappearance of Stiven Manrique Penagos, a 26-year-old man who vanished on April 18, 2025, in Elche, Alicante.

Stiven is of typical build, stands at a height of approximately 1.70/1.72 metres, and has dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. Due to his vulnerability, they have prioritised his disappearance, and they are requesting public assistance to locate him as soon as possible.

The organisation is urgently looking to hear from anyone with any information of his whereabouts.

If anyone has information regarding his whereabouts, please contact info@sosdesaparecidos.es or call 649 952 957 and 617 126 909.

Regarding SOS Missing Persons

Sosdesaparecidos is a non-profit association established in Caravaca de la Cruz that collaborates in the dissemination of information about missing persons of any age whose families do not know what happened or where they are.

The goal of the 32 men and women on the SOSdesaparecidos team is to assist families by utilising their personal and professional experiences.

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Alicante TRAM collected 2,494 lost objects in 2024

Last year, Alicante TRAM passengers lost a total of 2,494 objects, which the Valencian Railways (FGV) collected. This data suggests that passengers abandon an average of seven artefacts daily and 208 objects monthly. These objects are stored at the stations for a minimum of one month and for an additional month in the lost property storage facility at Luceros station. The Alicante Local Police then receive the items if their proprietors have not claimed them after this period.

Wallets and purses, keys, backpacks, documents (ID, passports, driving licences, health cards, etc.), mobile phones, spectacles, folders, umbrellas, and handbags are the items that are seen on trains and trams in Alicante and its metropolitan area the most frequently.

October (442), January (393), November (378), June (366), March (308), April (303), August (296), July (291), May (286), December (276), February (263), and September (199) were the months in which the most items went missing, proceeding with the division by season.

The recovery of an object by its owner while it is registered with FGV amounts to 929, or 37.25%, thanks to the protocols established by FGV for the management and safekeeping of lost objects. The remaining percentage is either handed over to the Alicante Local Police or taken to a recycling centre or green point if the objects are clearly worn or deteriorated.

The time required to retrieve an item is contingent upon the presence of any identifying information or the customer’s claim. When there’s identifying information or a customer’s claim, we often recover the item the same day it goes missing, especially if it’s valuable.

Steps to be taken

In the initial phase, lost property is dropped off and picked up at the stations served by FGV personnel before being transferred to the central office at Luceros station.

After one month, the items are collected and transported to the lost property facility at Luceros station to attempt to identify their owner, deregister them for recycling based on their condition, or deliver them to the Alicante Lost Property Office after an additional month.

They promptly hand over official documents, such as passports and ID cards, to the authorities to determine their owner, then destroy bank cards to mitigate unnecessary risks and prevent tampering. Customer service personnel conduct follow-up and minor investigations to ensure their return to the police.

Amazing objects

In addition to the previously mentioned items, there are several remarkable items that it’s hard to imagine users would overlook. These items include bicycles, scooters, suitcases, crutches, walking sticks, laptops, tablets, baby strollers, shopping carts, motorcycle helmets, portable refrigerators, toiletry bags, umbrellas, hair dryers, X-rays, prescriptions, medical reports, a construction shovel, a shower telephone, and even a toilet seat or fire extinguisher.

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Firefighters rescue hiker after fracturing her leg in fall in Dénia

Members of the Provincial Fire Consortium rescued a 40-year-old woman on Monday, April 21st, on the climb to Cova del Aigua in Dénia after she fractured her leg in a fall while hiking.

The alert was received at around 12:48 p.m., and an Alpha 01 rescue helicopter and the Special Rescue Group (GER) were dispatched to the scene, the Consortium said in a statement.

Since the woman was at a point where the ambulance could not reach due to the terrain, the rescue helicopter was activated with the GER.

Once located, the officers disembarked from the helicopter and brought her back to San Vicente Park, where an ambulance was waiting. The operation ended at 4:04 p.m.