Ceuta Sees 60% Drop in Moroccan Tourists Since Pre-Pandemic Levels

Only 12,663 Moroccan tourists arrived in Ceuta last summer, compared to 32,253 in August 2019, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) obtained following the rule of inbound tourism based on the position of mobile phones.

The data from last summer is close to that of March 2020, the month in which confinement was decreed due to the health crisis. In November, 4,945 Moroccan tourists visited the autonomous city, barely a thousand more than in April 2020, at the height of the lockdown.

The arrival of Moroccan tourists does not allow the tourism sector in Ceuta to rebound after the health crisis. Moreover, this data, collected according to the position of travelers’ mobile phones, is not exempt from errors, as a single traveler can move with two or more phones or without a phone, or with a phone turned off.

Between March 1 and April 1, 2022, the number of tourists visiting Spain increased by 167.9% compared to the same period in 2021. Most come from Europe (91.8%) and the rest from America (5.2%), Asia (1.7%), Africa (1.3%) and Oceania (0.1%).