An Analysis of Tourism in Spain

An Analysis of Tourism in Spain

The Kingdom of Spain is a parliamentary monarchy and is situated in the southwestern part of Europe known as the Iberian Peninsula. Spain is a member of the EU since 1986. With an area of 504,782 sq km it is the second largest country in Western Europe, just after France. The capital is Madrid, which is also the biggest city in the country, followed by Barcelona, Valencia and Seville. It is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea in the south to the east, Atlantic Ocean to the west and the Bay of Biscay to the north. Spain is bounded to Portugal, France, Morocco, Andorra and Gibraltar.

Map of Spain (excluding Canary Islands)

Source: www.spainmaster.com

The territory of Spain is mostly mainland, but it also covers The Balearic and Canary Islands, small area of land in Africa bounding with British Gibraltar and two autonomous cities on the coast of Morocco, Ceuta and Melilla.

Tourism is one of the most important and valuable types of industry and every year around 46 million people in the country, counting for about 10% of annual revenue. In my assignment I am going to analyze and discuss the sociological, economic and environmental impacts of tourism on the country and its citizens. First, I would like to start from the beginning of this touristic boom that made Spain one of the most desirable holiday destinations in the world.

''The Franco Era'' - Era of economic and touristic revolution

In the mid 1950's after General Francisco Franco - Spain's long ruling dictator-urged and committed his government to the promotion of inbound tourism in coastal areas. It was the only way to overcome the economic crisis of the troubled country, caused by the civil war and isolation of Spain from the western countries as a result of supporting Germany during the 2nd World War. Spain's primary goals were to stabilize the national economy by opening country's boarders to western tourists and investors, cautiously changing the strategy of national trade and capital flows, reducing inflation and financial imbalances. As a result of the reforms the dictatorship could no longer restrict the foreign trade, which was liberalized. Domestic trade was partially liberalized. Most of the reforms were successfully launched by Franco's new neo-liberal government and the country's economy started to stabilize for the first time in many years. With a new liberal image and an important geographical location, Spain became a very important ally for the U.S. in the times of ''Cold War'' with the communists from the Soviet Block. In 1953 Franco entered into trade and military agreements with the USA, that in return for considerable financial