Spain hopes to receive 1.4 million Russian tourists this year
MOSCOW. Nov 30 (Interfax) - The flow of tourists arriving in Spain from Russia has somewhat decreased, which is not connected with the situation in Ukraine, however, Spanish Deputy Foreign Minister and national commissioner of the Marca Espana company told Interfax during his visit to Russia.
"We have been observing a slight reduction in the numbers of Russian tourists arriving in Spain. But we do not think this is connected with the Ukrainian issue," he said.
Madrid expects the number of Russian tourists to reach about 1.4 million this year, down 7% compared to 2013, he said.
De Los Monteros said a reduction in the numbers of Russian tourists traveling to Spain may be due to "the currency exchange rate." "The ruble has fallen, which has made foreign travel more expensive," he said.
But he said that the Spanish authorities are doing all they can to facilitate visa issuance to Russian tourists.
"Last year we made the decision to increase the consular staff and we issued 11,000 visas on a daily basis this year. All problems connected with visas have been lifted," he said.
"There are no restrictions and we are indeed interested in a larger inflow of Russian tourists," he said.