ABSTRACT

The development of beach tourism in southern Europe is therefore not surprising, with Spain as one of the main recipients of mass tourism, and the subsequent spread of tourist resorts all along the Spanish Mediterranean coast and the Balearic and Canary Islands. This chapter analyses the factors that determine the current map of tourism in Spain from an economic and geographical perspective, the basics of the Spanish tourism model of development and recent changes in the geographic scope of the activity and economic performance. It begins with a comparative overview of the tourism sector in Spain and France. In terms of international tourism receipts Spain ranks second while France occupies the third position. The first econometric study for Spain was presented by Balaguer and Cantavella-Jord who derived the TLG hypothesis from the largely studied export-led growth hypothesis while understanding tourism as a particular type of export where it is the consumer who moves rather than the good.