A record number of tourists visited the southern European nation of Spain this summer, increasing the likelihood of additional disputes between groups opposed to the influx, and those that welcome it.

Spain's national statistics office, the Instituto Nacional de Estadistica, or INE, said the 21.8 million people who visited the country this summer was 7.3 percent up on last summer's total.

While the growing number of tourists supported many jobs and was an undoubted boon to the country's economy, some groups have said the vast inventory of real estate now dedicated to tourism is driving up house prices and making it hard for locals to afford a home.

Spain, which is officially the world's second most popular tourist destination after France, needs to find a way forward in which it will reap the benefits of its popularity without encountering the problems, the country's minister of tourism said this week.

Jordi Hereu said at an event in Tenerife, Canary Islands organized by the tourism promotion agency Turespana that tourism has been "a great success for the well-being, social cohesion, and economic development of Spain".

But Hereu said it is also time for the country to "transform" the sector into one that is more diversified, so certain locations do not get more visitors than they can cope with.

Hereu's comments followed mass protests on the streets of Barcelona and Malaga, and on the Balearic and Canary islands, where protesters said that in addition to driving up property prices, tourists are putting an intolerable strain on infrastructure and creating unwanted pollution.

The INE said tourists from the United Kingdom make up the largest single national group among Spain's visitors, with 4.17 million holidaying there during the summer. Tourists from France were the second-largest group, with 3.75 million. Germans were third, with 2.49 million. And 1.35 million people visited from Italy. The INE said the 850,000 tourists from the United States was 13 percent up on the total from last summer.

Some 64.8 million tourists visited Spain during the first eight months of 2024, spending 86.7 billion euros ($95.9 billion), which was 17.6 percent more than in the same period last year.

The tourism sector is predicted to contribute 13.2 percent to Spain's economy during 2024.

In a bid to diffuse tension between Spaniards that welcome the economic benefits of the influx and those who suffer because of it, the socialist government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said it will create a register of official tourism lodgings and locals-only accommodation.

Some local governments have also made moves, including the administration in Barcelona, which has said it will outlaw short-term lets of apartments to non-residents.

END (441 words)