Spain broke its previous record for tourist arrivals with 75.3 million international visitors in 2016.

The increase was 9.9 percent over 2015, the Spanish Tourism ministry said, a new record.

The total spend by those visitors was also a record with EUR€77 billion (USD$81.9 billion), up 8.3 percent over the previous year. Average spend per visitor was €1,023, up 3.75 percent on 2015. Average daily spend rose 6.5 percent to €138.

The UK provided the highest number of visitors with just under 17 million for the reported period of January-November 2016. That was a 12.3 percent increase on the previous year.

France was second with 10.8 million visitors, up 7.1 percent, and Germany third with 10.7 million, an increase of 6.1 percent compared to the same period in 2015.

Catalonia was the most popular destination for foreign tourists with 17 million visitors, the Balearic Islands was second, with the Canary Islands a close third.