Four and a half million Brits arrive at Alicante airport each year. Traditionally they have formed the main stay of the region's tourist industry.
With the depreciation of the pound and the subsequent drop in the exchange rate, hoteliers are worried that the 2.3 percent decline in numbers of Brits coming to the area last year will continue and get worse.
It isn't all bad news though for the region. The overall figures actually show an increase of 0.2% in numbers which, when taken against the 2.6% fall in numbers for Spain overall, is encouraging. The rise in numbers of German tourists (up 2.4% to almost half a million), Belgians (up by 38.8%) and Swedes (up by a massive 60% to just less that 212,000) offset the fall in British tourism.
The Costa Brava and the Costa Dorada were worst hit areas of Spain with a drop of 6.7% of tourists over the last year. Meantime the Costa del Sol saw a drop of 4.1%.
I imagine this means we will be seeing fewer of the menus outside restaurants on the coast translated into pigeon English; hake and crisps will become hechtdorsch und späne
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