16.5% of Flights to Spain in May Came From The UK

16.5% of Flights to Spain in May Came From The UK

Malaga Airport is living up to its new expansion

with record number of Brits coming to

the Costa del Sol

Even though the summer has just started Spanish airports are already seeing record passenger numbers.

Things may be heating up with the Brexit but no matter what comes from the result it’s clear that Brits just can’t get enough of Spain.

While things are still heating up in the relationship between the EU and the UK, with people throwing around xenophobia and mistrust, the latest data suggests that Spain is still very much beloved by the UK.

The figures in question show that 16.5% of all the passengers arriving at Spanish airports during May were either coming from or going back to airports in the UK, helping lead to the overall rise of 11.3% in overall passengers over the last month. A total of 13.43 million Brits have passed through a Spanish airport during the first five months of 2016.

Spanish airports were just under 12% busier this May than they were in May of last year. So it looks like Spain really could see their old tourism records smashed in 2016.

During the first five months of 2016 all 16 of Spain’s major airports saw a dramatic increase in visitors. El Prat in Barcelona alone saw 16 million passengers during this time; a rise of 13.4% compared to last year.

The Barajas airport in Madrid was just as busy. They saw just over 19 million passengers themselves and Malaga Airport saw an impressive 5.7 million passengers. Overall over 21 million people made their way through Spanish airport terminals in May. That’s one record down already as this number is much higher than the older record set in May of 2008.

The Spanish airport management company Aena said that this rise in popularity is due to the cheaper fuel, leading to a drop in airfares, as well as the relative safety of the country. Spain is now a safer country than other popular tourist destinations Egypt, Turkey and Tunisia.

The drive is almost definitely coming from tourism though as the increase is mostly down to British tourists due to the cost of living being so low, and Spain being so safe and for so many other reasons. Germans came in second with 11.5% of international flights coming from Germany, with Italy and France coming in third and fourth.

Ryanair Offers Cheap Flights for Expats To Go Back Home and Vote Remain

Ryanair Offers Cheap Flights for Expats To Go Back Home and Vote Remain

Irish budget airline Ryanair have begun offering tickets from Spain for British expats to fly home on June 22^nd and 23^rd. The tickets are just €19.99 and are for expats who want to vote to remain in the EU.

Cheap flights by Ryan Air are received well by expats in Spain

It’s estimated that two million Brits have moved to other countries in the European Union with the majority of them, at least a million, currently living in Spain.

It’s expected that the real number of Brits abroad could be as much as 50% higher than this estimate though, as many of them either forget to register they are living in another country or deregister in the UK. It also doesn’t include the expats who are not permanent residents who spend roughly half the year abroad and half at home.

The CEO of Ryanair, Michael O’Leary, has said that even though his airline is based in Ireland it remains the largest airline in the UK and is a major source of employment for Britain as a whole.

Roughly 3,000 people work for Ryanair, spread across 13 airports in the UK. They take about 41 million people to and from the UK each year.

O’Leary is strongly against the so-called “Brexit” and says that the open skies policy of the EU has led to a dramatic rise in tourism.

O’Leary says Britain is one of the most competitive economies in Europe thanks in part to the goods, services, and people they are allowed to move around the 28 member states.

He believes that British prime minister David Cameron was able to use the “wish list” he presented to the other member states to ensure Britain never has to join the Euro and will deal with less red tape overall.

O’Leary believes that if Britain were to exit the EU then investment that currently goes to the UK could go to Germany and the Republic of Ireland instead.

These “Fly home to vote remain” tickets, priced at €19.99, are valid at any any UK airport and from any airport in the EU, such as those in Spain. They are also available to any nationality and not just Brits, although the only non-Brits who can vote in the referendum are those that belong to the Commonwealth or are Irish citizens.

Brits living in Spain and the EU are able to fly home and vote as long as they haven’t been outside of the UK for more than 15 years. An appeal was brought by two expats, including the 94-year-old war veteran Harry Schindler in Italy. It was rejected by the High Court and is now headed to the British Supreme Court.

The deadline for Brits abroad to vote by post has now passed and the British embassy in Spain have confirmed that they began sending ballots out on May 23^rd.

Some of these ballots have been received and returned, so some expats have already voted in the referendum a month before it will actually be held.