Spain: Tourism Sector Sees Uptick Of 109,000 Contributors to Social Security
Spain’s tourism sector ended May with 109,899 more national insurance contributors than the previous month, bringing the total number of contributors linked to tourism activities to 2,198,985, according to data included in the Employment in Tourism Report prepared by Turespaña.
“The end of the state of emergency, the improvement in the epidemiological situation thanks to the vaccination progress and the start of the summer season are behind these figures, which we trust will continue to improve month by month as the recovery that we have already begun takes hold,” said the Secretary of State for Tourism, Fernando Valdés.
In relative terms, affiliation increased 5.3% in May compared with April, a growth that was recorded in all branches of activity (hotels and catering, travel agencies and other tourism activities).
The year-on-year fall in affiliates linked to tourism activities relaxed to 1% and represents 21,543 fewer workers in absolute terms. In May, affiliates in the tourism sector accounted for 11.4% of the total number in the national economy.
Affiliation by sector and community
Growth in affiliation was recorded in May compared with April in all branches of activity. The hotel and catering industry added 100,946 new affiliates, travel agencies and operators another 90, and other tourism activities saw 8,863 new contributors.
In year-on-year terms, on the other hand, other tourism activities grew by 2,249 affiliates, while hotels and restaurants decreased due to the drop in accommodation services (-24,651), but increased in food and beverage services (+6,956), and also fell in travel agencies (-6,187).
By Autonomous Community, year-on-year increases in absolute terms were recorded in Andalusia (+8,828), Valencia (+5,116), Castilla-La Mancha (+3,544), Catalonia (+2,052), Murcia (+1,163), Extremadura (+885), Cantabria (+612), Asturias (+457) and Ceuta and Melilla (+16). At the other extreme, the Balearic Islands led the decline in affiliates, with 24,661 fewer than a year ago. Followed by the Canary Islands (-11,257), Madrid (-3,748), Basque Country (-2,485), Galicia (-1,649), Castilla y León (-945), Aragón (-842), Navarra (-649), La Rioja (-209).