Hotel stays in the Canary Islands saw a signifact rise in August compared to 2023. (Image: Getty)
The month of August marked the twelfth consecutive month of growth in stays in the popular archipelago of the , according to data released by the National Statistics Institute (INE).
Hotel stays saw a significant rise of 5.7 percent last month compared to the same month last year, totalling over 6.9 million overnight stays.
The figure represents the third-highest number of overnight stays for the month of August in the region’s recorded history.
The number of staying in hotels on islands including Tenerife, Lanzarote and Gran Canaria also grew by 3.21 percent, with a total of just over one million visitors in August, reported.
Of these, 301,917 were Spanish residents (30 percent) while 703,149 (nearly 70 percent) were international tourists, including those .
Spanish residents showed a slight increase of 0.9 percent from the previous year, while foreign visitors rose by 4.2 percent.
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Out of the total overnight stays, 1.38 million, almost 20 percent, were Spanish residents, while 5.53 million were international tourists.
Accompanying this rise, however, was also a . The average daily rate per hotel room in the archipelago has risen to €139.29 (£116.16), an 8.2 percent year-on-year increase. Overall, hotel prices in the region increased by over 5.9 percent compared to 2023.
That being said, hotel occupancy reached 81.2 percent in August, with the sector employing 57,818 people, a 7.3 percent increase from the previous year.
As such, the Canary Islands ranked second in Spain for occupancy rates, behind the at just under 90 percent and ahead of , which includes Barcelona, at 80.2 percent. Regions with lower occupancy rates included Castilla-La Mancha (38.5 percent) Extremadura (50.1), and (54.3).
On a national scale, the Balearic Islands accounted for the highest percentage of overnight stays in Spain in August at 23.8 percent, followed by Catalonia with 18.6 percent and with 15.5 percent.
Don’t miss… [TOURISM] [OVERTOURISM] [PROTESTS]
Like much of Spain this summer, the Canary Islands including Tenerife have faced protests. (Image: Getty)
Like much of Spain this summer, the Canary Islands including and Lanzarote have faced and demonstrations over . Among the protesters’ demands was the .
In April, to demand limits on the impact holidaymakers were having on the Spanish archipelago. Carrying banners reading slogans such as “Tourism is killing the Canary Islands” locals told the Express the influx of outsiders had and was .
Activists on the Canaries were left concerned when their local government decided to press ahead with a development plan that was approved back in 2022. Known as the , it allows for the construction of over 129,000 new tourist beds, effectively doubling the current capacity. However, protest leaders argued the expansion plans are environmentally unsustainable and a legacy of a discredited .