Worried tourism bosses in Spain are winning the battle for European holidaymakers, with an impressive 5 per cent rise in visitor numbers for the first quarter of this year.
The country welcomed over ten million holiday makers in January, February and March – normally viewed as off peak months.
The highest number of visitors came from the United Kingdom, followed closely by Germany.
It was mainly due to the Germans that the numbers were up, as the number of British arrivals actually showed a slight drop, while more than 6 per cent extra visitors from Germany ensured a good start for 2007 for Spain.
The Canary Islands were the most popular part of Spain. Lanzarote, Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura enjoy warm winters due to their geographical location near Africa, and have a strong appeal for Britons facing their winter.
The Costa del Sol, a perennial favourite of the British seeking a winter sunshine break enjoyed a boost in arrivals.
The Balearic Island also recorded a rise in visitors.
The Balearics consist of Menorca (the smallest island), Majorca and Ibiza. The small rise compared to the Canary Islands isn’t too much of a surprise as Menorca has a season that traditionally is at its peak early May to end September, but is now trying to extend that from mid April to mid October.
As part of the Balearic Islands, Mallorca has welcomed many visitors back to live full time on the island. Menorca property has proved popular too, for those looking for a gentler pace of life than big sister Mallorca.
Property prices in Mallorca are similar to Menorca property, with a range of apartments and villas in both rural and town locations, and with twenty golf courses plenty of golf course developments too on Mallorca.
Menorca has just the one golf course, recently extended to eighteen holes, and is located in Son Parc, which has a choice of hotels, apartments and villas for holiday makers.
The cost of flying to Mallorca has come down in recent years from most European countries due to low cost airlines, especially in the island’s core tourist areas of the United Kingdom and Germany, and last year easyJet started direct flights from London’s Gatwick Airport to the sister island of Menorca, as well as serving Mallorca itself.
Despite competition from other destinantions, Mallorca looks set to remain a favourite holiday spot for some time to come.
How the second quarter official figures go remains to be seen, but Spain could see a further drop in British arrivals compared to last year.
An unusually warm spell of weather for five weeks in April in the UK could mean that more Brits have booked summer holidays in their home country.
The warm weather, increased airport departure taxes, and environmentally aware travellers could shun an overseas holiday this year.
The new environment warnings of ‘carbon footprints’ is impacting the travel market, with news bulletins regularly reporting that taking a flight adds to global warming. If holidaymakers take heed Spain might also see a drop in visitors from Germany and Scandanavia.

Europe’s favourite holiday island Majorca is set to have Spain’s most luxurious hotel in Spain on her soil, boosting the island’s image and economy while attracting high spenders, according to news reports recently.
As well as helping the island’s economy directly, luxury hotels, especially on a favourite holiday island to many Europeans and North Americans, will doubtless see Majorca mentioned in the press and on entertainment shows when the stars drop in – already Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones own property in Majorca, as does ex Wimbledon champion Boris Becker, who is understood to be selling one house but looking for another.
The luxury hotel has come about unexpectedly from a project started some ten years ago that ran into financial difficulties, nd it is that will be transformed into Spain’s finest, with the hotel anticipated to open for business some time in 2009 or 2010.
The hotel will be owned by a Dubai company which also owns the well known Burj-al Arab hotel in Dubai, as well as hotels in London and New York.
Siuated in Mallorca’s Port de Soller it is only 10 miles from the Mallorca hotel owned by Richard Branson. In Port de Soller two hotels have marketed themselves as boutiques recently, with Port de Soller and neighbouring Soller aiming to become the lucrative luxury area of Mallorca.
Mallorca as an island has been promoting itself to the UK market recently, with the UK advertising campaign for Majorca including a team distributing information at London’s Victoria Station. Trains from Victoria run several times an hour to London’s Gatwick Airport, allowing easy access to Mallorca for Londoners.
The Balearic Islands of which Mallorca is part consist of three islands, as well as Malloca there is Menorca (the smallest island)and and Ibiza. Menorca has a season that traditionally is at its peak early May to end September, but is now trying to extend that from mid April to mid October.
As part of the Balearic Islands, Mallorca has welcomed many visitors back to live full time on the island. Menorca property has proved popular too, for those looking for a gentler pace of life than big sister Mallorca.
Property prices in Mallorca are similar to Menorca property, with a range of apartments and villas in both rural and town locations, and with twenty golf courses plenty of golf course developments too on Mallorca.
Menorca has just the one golf course, recently extended to eighteen holes, and is located in Son Parc, which has a choice of hotels, apartments and villas for holiday makers.
The cost of flying to Mallorca has come down in recent years from most European countries due to low cost airlines, especially in the island’s core tourist areas of the United Kingdom and Germany, and last year easyJet started direct flights from London’s Gatwick Airport to the sister island of Menorca, as well as serving Mallorca itself.
Despite competition from other destinantions, Mallorca looks set to remain a favourite holiday spot for some time to come.

One of Britain’s best known banks and mortgage providers is to open three new offices on the Spanish islands of the Canaries plus the Balearic island of Menorca to meet demand for Britons looking to buy a home in Spain.
The decision by the Halifax was taken from data showing a trend towards Britons buying homes overseas, with Spain the most popular choice.
Part of the expansion decision was to open in Menorca, the quietest of the three Balearic Islands. Commenting on the move a local travel guide commented:
‘While Majorca and Ibiza are possibly better known than Menorca, it’s perhaps not so surprising that the bank has decided to open an office on the island. The typical buyer for property in Menorca is often older than that for Majorca and Ibiza, which could mean they are hoping to service their investments and pensions along with a normal account – especially for those moving full time to Menorca.’
Commenting on the new bank branch in Menorca, the company said that the opening of branches away from mainland Spain is an important step in the development of their branch network, and that they will continue to target the Spanish islands in addition to their Spanish mainland business.
Once bought, Menorca villas are often let out to holidaymakers, with the season generally running from May to end September.
As one of the Balearic Islands Menorca is situated close to better known Majorca, which like Menorca has welcomed many visitors back to live full time on the island. Menorca property has proved popular too, for those looking for a gentler pace of life than big sister Majorca.
Property prices in Majorca are similar to Menorca property, with a range of apartments and villas in both rural and town locations, and with twenty golf courses plenty of golf course developments too.
Menorca has just the one golf course, recently extended to eighteen holes, and is located in Son Park, which has a choice of hotels, apartments and villas for holiday makers.
The cost of flying to Menorca and Majorca has come down in recent years from most European countries due to low cost airlines, especially in the island’s core tourist areas of the United Kingdom and Germany, and last year easyJet started direct flights from London’s Gatwick Airport to Menorca, having served Majorca for some years already.
The third island in the Balearics is Ibiza, which in turn attracts a different age group and property buyer compared to Menorca and Majorca.
Clubbers from around Europe, and especially from the UK, descend upon Ibiza in the summer months for a week – and often two – of non stop partying.
Ibiza runs second only to the UK’s main cities of London, Manchester and Liverpool in terms of popularity for clubbers, and some of the Ibiza clubs are as well known as any in the UK, with some clubbers visiting frequently enough to consider buying an apartment on the island.
Demand for flights to Ibiza has been high enough in recent years for a low cost airline to start two new services from the UK to Ibiza, which should see the number of tourists on the island rise this year.
The two new routes are from Edinburgh in Scotland twice weekly, and London’s Luton Airport with both routes offering a daily service. This will be an attraction for those considering buying a property on one of the Spanish islands, and this in time will again attract the British banks to open new offices to cater for those considering buying an apartment or villa.