Employment In Spain's Tourism Sector Recovered To Pre-Pandemic Levels In March
Spain News
Published: 20 April 2022 13:01 CET
Employment within the Spanish tourism sector recovered to pre-pandemic levels in March according to official data published by Turespaña.
In total, there were 2,388,910 social security affiliates employed within the tourism industry representing 99.4% of those registered at the same time in 2019, prior to the start of the global pandemic.
The data now suggests that 12.1% of those paying into the social security system are employed within the tourism sector.
Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Reyes Maroto was upbeat about the news.
“The vigorous recovery of tourism that is taking place in our country is having a first direct and immediate impact on employment. Even before a Holy Week that has been extraordinary, affiliation in the sector stood at pre-pandemic levels in March and nearly 330,000 jobs have been created in tourism activities in the last year, which confirms the good times tourism is experiencing," said Maroto.
“It took six years to recover, today we are close to pre-pandemic levels two years after the worst crisis that the sector has faced in its entire history, which has been possible, among other things, thanks to the protection shield for workers and companies deployed by the Government and the successful vaccination process," she continued.
Sectors of activity
The number of social security affiliates increased in all branches of tourism with the hotel sector seeing the biggest rise with 241,724 new affiliates. Of these, 165,301 were in food and beverage services with 76,423 in accommodation.
In other areas of tourism, there were an additional 85,135 affiliates registered, while in travel agencies there was a further increase of 2,356.
Self-employment in accommodation services was up by 7.6% with travel and tour operators also growing by 3.4% compared to March 2019.
By autonomous community
So which regions of Spain saw the biggest increase in social security affiliates?
Affiliates increased across the board in the travel and tour operator sectors in all regions with the Valencian Community, Andalusia, along with the autonomous communities of Ceuta and Melilla exceeding the number of affiliates in hospitality, travel agencies and tour operators in March 2019.
In the case of the Valencian Community, March closed with 180,151 registrations in the subsectors cited (+1,309 registrations than in 2019); Andalusia, with 279,483 (+381 more) and Ceuta and Melilla together, with 3,783 (+48).
The news will be warmly received by those in the tourism sector which has been hit especially hard during the pandemic due to both international and regional travel restrictions.
In another boost to the sector, Spain’s Council of Ministers voted on Tuesday to remove the requirement to wear face masks indoors.
From Wednesday, April 20, in bars, restaurants, schools, sports stadiums, shops and other establishments, it will no longer be mandatory to wear a mask.
However, the wearing of masks will remain mandatory on public transport and in hospitals and other health facilities. The government also recommends that those over the age of 60, those who are immunosuppressed and pregnant women remain cautious, especially indoors when a safe distance of 1.5 metres cannot be maintained.
Source
https://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/serviciosdeprensa/notasprensa/industria/Paginas/2022/190422-turismo-empleo.aspx
