page_title: Tourism in Spain
section_title: Religion
hierarchical_section_title: Tourism in Spain / Cultural tourism, business tourism / Religion
caption_attribution_description: Procesión de Las Palmas, organizada por la Cofradía de la Entrada de Jesús en Jerusalén, el Domingo de Ramos en Astorga, León, España.
context_page_description: Tourism in Spain is the third major contributor to national economic life after the industrial and the business/banking sectors, contributing about 10–11% of Spain's GDP. Ever since the 1960s and 1970s, the country has been a popular destination for summer holidays, especially with large numbers of tourists from the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, the Benelux, and the United States, among others. Accordingly, Spain's foreign tourist industry has grown into the second-biggest in the world.
  In 2019, Spain was the second most visited country in the world, recording 83.7 million tourists which marked the seventh consecutive year of record-beating numbers.
  Spain ranks first among 140 countries in the biannual Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index published by the World Economic Forum in 2019, matching the top position already achieved in 2017 and 2015.
  The World Tourism Organization has its headquarters in Madrid.
  According to The Economist 2005 year list, Spain has the world's 10th highest quality of life.
context_section_description: Spain is an important place for Catholicism. In fact, some of the holiest places for the Catholic Church are in Spain: city of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia (North-West Spain), the third holiest place after the Vatican City in Rome and Jerusalem. It is also the terminus of the Way of Saint James. Santo Toribio de Liébana, Cantabria (also in North Spain) is the fourth, followed by Caravaca de la Cruz at the South-East, (fifth holiest place). These places attract pilgrims and tourists from all over the world.
  Religion also has found its artistic expression through the popular Holy Week processions, which become important in almost every town.
caption: Holy Week in Astorga
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