SPAIN is set to receive a tourism windfall of more than €4 billion as the Iran conflict sends holidaymakers flocking west, industry experts have said.
A survey of 2,000 companies by Spanish tourism alliance Exceltur predicted the sector’s turnover would rise by 3.2% year-on-year between July and September — far exceeding previous growth forecasts.
Data shows holidaymakers are turning away from destinations such as Turkey, Egypt and Cyprus as the conflict in Iran continues to create uncertainty across the Middle East, instead opting for safer locations further west, including Spain.
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Exceltur executive vice-president Oscar Perelli told El Pais: “Back in April, we estimated that this shift would inject €4.2 billion into Spain’s tourism industry this year.
“It now looks like we may have been too conservative.”
Perelli said tourist arrivals in Turkey fell by 3.8% between March and May, with particularly sharp declines from key source markets including the UK (-8.3%), France (-5.7%) and Italy (-8.1%).
“That has played a key role in this growth,” he added.
The tourism boost comes as the US and Iran continue exchanging strikes after a previous ceasefire agreement dramatically unravelled last week.
The 14-point Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed in June, declared an end to the conflict and reopened the Strait of Hormuz — a crucial global shipping route — to commercial vessels.
However, analysts warned the agreement was vague on several key issues, leaving difficult questions — most notably the future of Iran’s nuclear programme — to be addressed in a second phase of negotiations.
US President Donald Trump declared the ceasefire agreement ‘over’ last week, accusing Iranian officials of failing to honour the commitments they had made.
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On Monday, he said the United States would probably take control of the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei accused Washington of pushing the MoU ‘into crisis,’ claiming the US had repeatedly violated its commitments.
On Thursday, Tehran said it had targeted US military bases in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain, while Washington continued overnight strikes on sites across Iran.
The US said on Tuesday it had reinstated a blockade on Iranian ports, which had previously been lifted as part of the MoU.
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