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120 tourists annually welcomes over Spain million
The Ministry of Information and Tourism (MIT) was formed in 1950 by General Francisco Franco to control and censor information in the press and radio. He used his power and Nationalist influence to rebrand the country through media propaganda. For example, he revoked the need for a visa to enter the country at the same time the peseta (Spanish currency before the Euro in 2002) was losing value, he made it even easier for tourists to visit the country. The development of the slogan “Spain is different” in the 1960s was an attempt to boost the tourism industry to revitalize the economy. Its success brought in 40% more visitors to the country equating to 4 million people. The initial attraction of tourists were the beaches and coastlines of the Mediterranean causing many peaceful fishing villages to develop into holiday resorts including Benidorm on the Costa Blanca. By focusing on this industry, coastlines were quickly transformed into hotspots for British and German holidaymakers. The development of the aviation industry and the construction of Alicante and Girona airports in the 1960s made Spain more and more popular. This led to 30 million foreign visitors travelling to Spain in 1975. Within the first 20 years of a switch in economic focus, Spain was able to regenerate its economy through relying on the tourism sector and bringing in foreign investment (mainly from Europe) to develop infrastructure to modernize the country. Nowadays, Spain is the second most popular holiday in the world (after France) and welcomes the most tourists per year. The Spanish tourism sector accounts for 13.4% of all jobs and whilst the government is trying to provide full time contracts, many jobs are seasonal, require long hours with few days off. This deters people from applying for these positions resulting in severe job shortages, particularly in the hospitality sector.
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