All Covid restrictions were lifted in Spain this year, so millions of Europeans flocked to the country’s beaches to catch up on quarantine. According to official data, the number of foreign tourists and holidaymakers in Spain reached pre-COVID levels in July 2022. And this despite a 10% to 15% increase in prices for all services. There are no direct flights from Russia due to sanctions, you can only transit through third countries. It’s expensive, inconvenient, and of course, it negatively affects the number of visitors.

But this situation was predictable. Specialists on the eve of the current tourist season spoke about the coming crisis in the structures that in previous years have specialized in serving guests from Russia. However, the crisis seems to have been overcome – not without the participation of the Ukrainians who came to Spain?

Is infrastructure no longer necessary for Russians?

The infrastructure to serve tourists from Russia has been built in Spain for three decades, Carlos Rincón, an international tourism analyst in Madrid, told DW. According to him, until recently this structure received up to one and a half million Russian citizens a year. At first, these were hotels and restaurants in various resorts in Catalonia, whose employees spoke Russian. Then, such establishments spread to the east and south coasts of the country.

However, in the last decade, the main recreation center for Russian tourists, according to Rincon, has increasingly become not hotels, but apartments and private homes. We are talking about real estate belonging to citizens of the Russian Federation, who, although they continue to live in their homeland, use them only one month a year. They rent their accommodation to tourists through intermediaries, usually compatriots who live permanently in Spain. Living in a private apartment is not so cheap, but more profitable than in a hotel, especially when it comes to families with children.

Where do Ukrainian refugees live?

As one DW correspondent was convinced, in the province of Alicante on Spain’s east coast, many Ukrainians fleeing the war took advantage of this well-functioning Russian-speaking structure. As a rule, they receive information about rented housing from their compatriots. The fact is that even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, up to 150,000 Ukrainians lived in Spain, many of whom had extensive contacts with the Russians and were with them in the same public immigrant organizations of the former USSR.

Temporary accommodation point for Ukrainian refugees in Madrid

But which of the Ukrainians who arrived since the end of February rents a house in Spain and why? After all, as people who fled the war and seek temporary asylum, are they entitled to free housing and is the state responsible for their resettlement? As explained to DW in the Ukrainian diaspora, Ukrainians who fled the war are often resettled by local authorities in the countryside, sometimes in dormitories where life is “not very comfortable”. That’s why some people prefer to pay to get where they want to go. In addition, among the latter there are many who left Ukraine despite the bans, being responsible for their military service. That’s why they prefer not to register: neither in internal affairs, including the police – as refugees, nor in hotels – as guests. As one of the Ukrainians who recently moved to Spain on condition of anonymity noted in an interview with a DW correspondent, his countrymen fear that the entries could eventually fall into the hands of Ukrainian authorities.

Who is out of official statistics

According to official Spanish statistics, 132,000 refugees from Ukraine have arrived in the country since March this year. Most are women and children. It is true that we are only talking about those who have registered and receive state assistance. As for those who preferred to remain incognito, the statistics on them are silent. They are mostly single men or couples with children — “ordinary tourists, lost among millions of other foreign visitors,” explained Rincón, an analyst.

Spanish municipalities show solidarity with Ukraine

This year, on the streets of tourist villages in the same province of Alicante, several cars with Ukrainian numbers immediately catch the eye. From local media reports, it is known that about a third of Ukrainians, including those who do not register, arrive in Spain in private cars. However, it is not worth calling the latter “holidays”. You won’t see them on the beaches. As DW discovered when conducting a survey on condition of anonymity in one of Alicante’s villages, many people work remotely – in Ukrainian and international companies. Basically, these are people who are far from politics: IT and other highly qualified specialists, people from the liberal professions and entrepreneurs.

Spending Russians in Spain

Thus, today the Spanish tourism industry is operating at full capacity. But sometimes there are reports in the press that the Spaniards reportedly regret the absence of the Russians, as they spend a lot of money on vacations, which is beneficial for local tourism. Commenting on these statements, analyst Carlos Rincon turned to official statistics. In fact, every Russian tourist spends 198 euros a day in Spain, while the average spending of other foreigners is 134 euros.

What do Russians spend money on, because, according to statistics, they spend directly on vacations no more than other Europeans? Citizens of the Russian Federation, according to the analyst, buy clothes, shoes and, especially in recent years, medicine in Spain. Other foreigners do not need to make such purchases in Spain. Therefore, Russian spending does not play any significant role in the local recreation industry. “In fact, Russian tourism has always been a drop in the bucket for Spain, as up to 82 million foreigners visit the country every year,” summarized Carlos Rincón.