The number of UK visitors to Barcelona in 2008 slumped by 100,000, due to the worsening economic conditions and the weakening of the pound against the euro.
The host city for the ABTA Travel Convention received 675,000 British tourists last year, who generated 1.3m overnight hotel stays in Barcelona.
“This was a considerable drop for us from the previous year,” said Barcelona Tourism communications director Gabriel Guilera.
“The exchange rate made it more expensive to visit Barcelona than previously and of course there has been the effect of the recession.”
Guilera accepted that Barcelona had a reputation as a city for petty crime, such as muggings and theft, but said the authorities were working hard to eradicate this.
“Crime has stayed at a pretty constant level, but of course we want to get it down and are doing everything possible,” he said.
Around 60 per cent of UK visitors to Barcelona come on holiday, with the rest on business. Around 40 per cent are visiting Barcelona for the first time and, on average, each UK visitor spends 90 euros per day in the city, excluding expenditure on their hotel.
