Spain, before the COVID-19 pandemic, the second most popular tourist destination in the world, expects attendance to recover to a record level in 2019 this summer.

According to the Spanish Ministry of Tourism, 22.7 million tourists visited the country in the first five months of this year, which is seven times higher than in the same period of 2021.

"The number of bookings indicates good prospects in the high holiday season," said Spanish Tourism Minister Reyes Maroto.

According to the forecast of the industry tourism association of Spain Exceltur, the influx of travelers in July and August may approach the indicators of 2019, a record for Spain in terms of tourist traffic.

Before the pandemic, Spain's industry accounted for 13% of jobs and 12.5% of national GDP.

Exceltur expects that in 2022 this macroeconomic indicator generated by tourism will reach 151.8 billion euros versus 155 billion euro in 2019, 52 billion euro in 2020 and 88 billion euro in 2021.