Go Spain!

The five most popular tourist destinations in the world are France, United States, Spain, China and Italy. Among the many factors which make countries attractive are good weather, natural/cultural landmarks and political stability. In 1972 UNESCO founded its World Heritage Convention to trace and protect sites of cultural or natural relevance throughout the world. Spain accepted the convention in 1982, thus enabling its historical landmarks to appear on the WHC list. The first Spanish locations chosen were the Córdoba Mosque, the Granada Alhambra and Generalife, the Burgos Cathedral, the Escorial Monastery in Madrid and the Park Güell, Palau Güell and Casa Milà in Barcelona. At present Spain has 44 sites on the prestigious list, surpassed only by China (45) and Italy (49). Of these 44 sites, 39 are cultural, 3 are natural, and 2 are mixed, as determined by the UNESCO standards. Of the 17 autonomous communities of Spain, Castile and León boasts the largest number of World Heritage sites.

This year is expected to be an all-time high record for Spain, due to recent terrorist attacks in Turkey and to the Zika virus threat in Mexico, Brazil and the Caribbean. European citizens have also been advised against travelling to Egypt and Tunisia for safety reasons. The great winner is Spain, with hotel and plane-ticket prices already soaring. Airlines eager to appease anxious holidaymakers looking for supposedly safer destinations are now redirecting flights to high-demand areas such as Spain. British travel giant Thomas Cook has revealed that it has switched 400,000 seats from Turkey to Spain and tour operator Thompson has also veered toward Spain to cope with the situation. All these factors place Spain at the gates of an unprecedented success this summer. The swarm won’t solve the crisis, but it will certainly liven up the economy.