Spain is becoming an attractive destination to Qatari tourists since reopening of borders as the intensity of pandemic lowers. A large number of tourists have travelled from Qatar to Spain since July, said Ambassador of Spain to Qatar, H E Maria Belen Alfaro Hernandez.
“There is strong enthusiasm by Qatari tourists to return to Spain and many Qataris have travelled to my country in the first two months since the reopening of the borders in July. Therefore, Spain will come again as an attractive destination for natural parks and wonderful beaches,” she said. “Our country is the third in terms of natural areas declared Biosphere Reserves and it harbours the coast with most Blue Flag beaches in the entire Northern Hemisphere. As mentioned before, the Arab legacy of cities such as Seville, Granada or Cordoba makes them a favourite to visit,” she added.
In terms of tourism, Spain is the second destination of international visitors and is seeking to recover and increase the pre-pandemic figures.
In a statement to media released yesterday to coincide with Spain National Day, Hernandez said that this year has seen several high level discussions held and agreements signed between Qatar and Spain and it helps further enhancing bilateral relations between the two countries.
“As for the bilateral relations between Qatar and Spain, they remain excellent and inspired by the strong affection between both Royal families,” she said.
“Our bilateral ties are enhanced by the economic cooperation in many different fields, such as construction, architecture, food and beverage, facility management, consultancy services, healthcare sector, fashion retail, energy and water, sport business, or IT sector, among others,” she added.
Hernandez emphasized on the ministerial visits from Spain to Qatar which lead to signing of several agreements in art, culture and sport in 2021. As result of the agreement on cultural cooperation between Qatar and Spain, the exhibition of ‘The Majlis – Cultures in Dialogue,’ a project by Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani Museum has just opened in the Alhambra in Granada, after being displayed in Madrid.
Qatar and Spain have signed an agreement for further collaboration in youth and sports affairs. “There is an ongoing cooperation between Qatar and Spain that definitely will contribute to the great success of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. In this regard, Spain is contributing to enhance sports culture in Qatar in many ways: through Aspire Academy and Aspetar, where very qualified Spanish professionals work, with top Spanish players in Qatari teams,” said Hernandez.
She also highlighted that many Spanish companies are contributing to the development of projects and two of the eight 2022 Qatar World Cup stadiums were designed by the Spanish architecture firm Fenwick Iribarren Architects. “The Qatari vision is to organise a memorable and unique tournament. In this sense, H H the Amir has announced that Qatar is committed to organizing the first carbon neutral tournament. We believe it will be a great success not only for the country but for the region,” said Hernandez.
