Drought
hits
economy with a
€4,400 million
Spanish
cost of Number of foreign visitors
to Spain staying in tourist
apartments soars by 33%
The country is suffering its worst
drought in hydrological terms
since the 1990s. More and more visitors to Spain
are are choosing to stay in
apartments rather than hotels.
The number of foreign tourists
using platforms such as Airbnb
in Spain increased by one m illion
during the first half of 2017, a
33% hike that takes the total to
around four million, according to
the latest data from the National
Statistics Institute (INE). To
put the figure in perspective,
the total number of visitors to
Spain in the first six months of
this year was 35.3 million, but
the tourist apartment segment is
the industry sector that is seeing
fastest growth. “Congestion,
gentrification, mass tourism, and
resentment is the result of rapid
and uncontrolled growth in the
number of apartments being
offered by platforms”
The worst hit has been on cereals.
In Castilla y León, losses exceed
€1 billion, with a crop reduction
of between 50% and 80%.
It is estimated that in some areas
that rapeseed, cabbage, fodder
and peas will barely reach a fifth
of the normal crop.
Reservoirs are at 46.5% of full
capacity - the lowest for the past
11 years. From: La Rioja