Morocco is Spain’s first destination for tourists

good news ! According to the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE), Morocco is the number one destination for Spanish tourists when traveling outside of Europe.

In April 2022, a total of 1.97 million Spanish tourists visited other countries, according to INE.

About 1.74 million Spanish tourists chose to travel to other European countries such as France, Portugal and Italy, while the rest chose non-European destinations such as Morocco, the United States and Turkey.

Morocco is a major destination for Spanish tourists outside the EU, with 81,806 travelers or 4.2% of total Spanish tourists arriving in North Africa in April. It is followed by the United States with 52,756 (2.7%) Spanish audience and Turkey with 17,894 (0.9%).

As a reminder, travel between Morocco and Spain has been blocked since 2019, and the outbreak of the COVID-19 outbreak in early 2020 prompted the Moroccan government to close the border crossings between Spain’s Ciota and Melilla.

Following the resumption of heated diplomatic relations between the two countries, the Moroccan-Spanish maritime borders were reopened on April 8, following the joint announcement by Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez and Moroccan King Mohammed VI on April 7.

According to the joint announcement, Morocco’s Spanish land borders were recently opened on May 17.