Interview with Rosana Murillo Tourism Minister of Spain at Fitur 2024 in Madrid.
Ryanair expansion in Spain
We met with Ryanair last week and it’s amazing the plans they have to grow in Spain because they still think there’s capacity for growth in Spain. But most interesting is that they are really open to flying to new airports or to airports in places that are not so popular yet.
I think this is the key, to try not to concentrate everybody on the same, already well-known places, but to let our visitors know everything that Spain has to offer off the beaten path, the new destinations in the north, but also in the south, that are open all year round, so I think they can maintain a sustainable operation there. We’re speaking in the south about opening up more airports, and also there’s the airport of Granada that still has a lot of capacity. Granada is a beautiful city that you can visit, it’s fantastic. So I think there is potential there in the south.
Obviously in the north, I would like to see more. In the north corner, Asturias, Cantabria, La Rioja, Basque Country also is getting really popular all year round. The high-speed train that goes all year round, there’s no seasonality there. This is helping us a lot with the long-haul visitors because people that come from China, from the states, that have normally a longer length of stay, they come to Madrid or Barcelona, and from there is where they travel across Spain.
Regionality, seasonality, is still a problem, although we are extending the season. But what is allowing us to grow in autumn and spring, in the shoulder season, is these other places where people go just to enjoy the astronomy, to enjoy the museums, to look at our historical patrimony and heritage.
So this is really booming, it’s really a phenomenon because the north of Spain is really booming. And don’t forget that even if you don’t have air connection, we have a great high-speed train network. Murcia is opening this year, it’s Madrid to Asturias. And recently, there was also the Madrid to Galicia.
Ireland has direct flights to Asturias. It was a fabulous job from the regional government that was pushing really hard to have new connections from Asturias.
The lobby against tourism
I think everything should be answered with the right data and with scientific information. You have to be rigorous there because if you look at the percentage of emissions that the aviation industry is responsible for, I think it’s between 2pc and 3pc at max.
So first of all, this is clear, it’s objective information, it’s a fact. with this fact, sometimes there are messages that are very emotional and… you mentioned the case of Barcelona, for example, had a kind of crusade against the cruises. And if you look at the number of tourists that the cruises are bringing, I think it’s not more than 10pc of the total tourists that Barcelona has.
The perception could be that suddenly you have thousands and thousands of new tourists in the city, and this is what I think the public administrations have to work on. First of all, with the right information, but second of all, as it’s a very emotional thing, it’s about perception. Working on mobility is so important to avoid masses and to avoid this feeling of being crowded.
Sustainability award
We are really happy about winning a sustainability award. So, yes, we did. We are really happy about that because this government has invested since the year 2021 in order to recover from the pandemic, only for tourism, €3,400m across all regions.
Part of it is going to the destinations and part of it is going to our companies, to our private sector for the transformation.
Because we are a popular destination, we are leaders in tourism, but you cannot get complacent. It’s a process whether not sustainable or sustainable, it’s a process. So we are the most putting effort and investment into it because we believe in it. It’s not about just speaking, we believe we have to do it.
So this is why the big investment in that, and I think it’s one of our major industries, tourism. So for us, it’s quite important, and just the existence of tourism as well, secures the economy in Spain, absolutely. But what we have discovered is that the tourism sector is pulling from other sectors. So if you are able to transform the tourism sector, lots of sectors that work around it will get transformed as well. It has a multiplying effect.
Tourism and rural areas
Depopulation of rural Spain is one of the big issues. Tourism is one of the answers. The other one probably is to get more industries there because there are places where there was an industry before, and because of the global economy, and mainly for economic or business reasons, they moved to another place for lower costs or whatever. And I think we have to bring back the industries.
We also have to be very careful not to lose our traditions. I mean, all the crafts and all. This is what makes us unique so we have to preserve all these things, and we have to help these people to continue to produce and not go to other places or close shop.
How would you deliver the message there is more to Spain than the coast?
I would say to Irish consumers, “Come and explore Spain. Spain is more than the cost, Spain has a lot to offer. There’s another Spain that you still don’t know, and I think it’s great for the Irish market, which is so loyal that people have come back, I mean have come to Spain many times.
So I think there is a point where there’s really a big chance for them to, what do they know? They know the country, they know they come to a secure country, a friendly country. So let’s explore the message, let’s explore.
The heatwave of 2023
The first thing, again, I think you have to go to the facts and it is still too soon to establish a trend to know what is going to happen in the future year. So it’s undeniable that the temperatures are rising all over the world and also in our country. But I think my biggest concern in that is not about tourism, it’s about our own citizens, our children, and about our quality of life, about the natural resources like water, which is already and will be a big problem in the future, I believe. So I think implementing measures now about circular economy taking care of waste, being sustainable is a must for us and for all of Europe.”
Let’s talk about Europe, which is our future for all of Europe. I think this is something that has to change fast. Whether trends or preferences are going to change, I don’t think so. Talking to airlines, talking to tour operators, people are still going for the sun, going for the heat. They are escaping from the bad weather they have in their home country. So I don’t think it will affect where people go outside of the high season because it’s still sunny, it’s still warm. I mean, you look at it today, it’s like 50-something degrees. And still, you have new destinations that are booming like Emirates and come on, they have much higher temperatures. So if we get one degree above, it’s not really a concern for us. And I can say, if I can add something to that, is that Spain has been with these warm temperatures for a while. I mean, not the highest, but it’s a place that is warm. We don’t have so, if I mean, I think the choice for the Irish is that they love our lifestyle and we are really accustomed to these temperatures. So it’s not the same being in Paris in the summer than being in any Spanish city. You have shades, terraces, outdoor dining places to refresh during the central hours of the day. You have other activities as well. So we are adapted. We don’t say it’s probably risky because that’s undeniable, but our lifestyle actually makes it like a nice way to be, of course.
Tourism targets
There are two and a half million visitors coming from Ireland to Spain and we are happy with that. The metric should be the experience, not only the number of visitors. So, expenditure is a measure, and the way you experience the country is the thing. So, I think the Minister is not focused on the numbers specifically, saying that we want the best experience for tourists to have, which means actually managing well is the manager of the structure and has to manage it well in order to provide the best experience to the tourists.
We’re the number one destination in the world. We took that from France quite recently. What is your target? What growth would you like to see? It’s a discussion that you’ve been having with RER as well. We want to grow in two directions. We want to grow in new markets. So, these new whole markets that I was speaking of before, I think there’s a big potential with China, Asia, and also the states part of Latino America, also are coming now to Spain and they are tourists that have a very high spend.
The other thing I think our big challenge is to grow across the territory. There are some parts of Spain that, in my opinion, shouldn’t, it would not be convenient for them to grow more because I think they are already very close to the maximum number of visitors that they can handle without affecting the quality of the experience of the traveller. But I would love to grow in the less known areas and I think we have a hidden treasure for the travellers that come to Spain. So, I would like to grow in the less known places. Will we see that in the marketing message? We have been seeing that for years now. But I think we have to keep pushing. And I think now we are seeing the results of, for example, the north of Spain having this increase in the number of visitors that come for the summer but also for city breaks, for shopping, for museums. So I think we are now seeing the rest explore. The Vice Minister is the head, of course, of TSP, which is the organization I work for, of course, under her wing. It’s very good, by the way.
Natural reserves and parks
Yes, it’s amazing how we are growing there because I think, again, it’s a matter of communication. When people know what we have, people come to see it. For example, last year, I was in the international Birds observation event in Extremadura. It was amazing, the number of thousands of people going there, thousands of people that do bird watching. Okay, very specific, yes, but it’s a type of tourist that I would love to see and to come more to Spain. So, we have found this niche, the special niche that we have and all the natural reserves that we have, both I would say on the earth and on the sea. Because don’t forget that Spain has a lot of marine reserves also for people that come fishing, that come diving. So, there’s a lot to offer there.
Recently, last year, we have opened a new one in the Balearic Islands, which I think is going to be the biggest marine reserve that we have in the Mediterranean. So, I think this is something we must tell, we must communicate and must let people know because I would love to see travellers that come to Spain because of that reason, because we are preserving the nature and we have this experience.
Irish experience
I have to confess I have a very special relationship and a very special place for Ireland in my heart because I studied at University College Dublin in my last year of my degree.
I have a degree in mathematics, and I did an Erasmus program and I spent my last year in Dublin, in UCD. It was 1996, a long time ago, I remember the Cobblestone or O’Neills, O’Neills was big in ’96, a long time ago.
The secret place
A marine preservation in Majorca called El Toro, where you can dive because I’m a diver, and this is fabulous. I will not.
