In April, the tourism sector in Spain saw a notable increase in its number of workers, reaching a total of 2.99 million affiliates, according to data published today by Turespaña. This growth translates into an increase of 94,478 people compared to the same month of the previous year, representing a 3.3% year-on-year increase.
In comparison, the general labor market of the country grew by 2.2% year-on-year, which means that tourism currently represents 13.6% of the total affiliates.
The growth in employment was mainly observed in hospitality, where 34,220 new affiliates were registered, distributed between 16,268 in accommodation services and 17,952 in food and beverage services. However, travel agencies experienced a negative variation, with a loss of 9,430 workers. This decrease, as clarified in a technical note, does not reflect a real decline, as it is due to changes in the classification of activities that affect the accounting of data in this sector.
In the area of salaried workers, who constitute 82% of the total workers in tourism, an increase of 2.5% was recorded compared to last year. Despite the drop of 7.9% in salaried employment in travel agencies and tour operators, hospitality showed a growth of 1.8%. On the other hand, self-employment in tourism, which represents 18% of the total, grew by 6.6%, highlighting an increase in accommodation services of 20.2%.
