Tourism, Catalonia's economy main engine (1951-2010)

This work outlines the basic dimensions of Catalonia's economic activities associated to incoming tourism from 1951 until 2010. It analyzes its characteristics from a macroeconomics perspective and with a comparative approach. It shows the transformation from the sun and beach model that defined the initiation stage of mass tourism into a much more diversified tourism destination, with an increasing relevance of the Barcelona conurbation. This transformation has provided for a positive adaptation to the segmentation experimented by international tourism demand. Foreign tourism has given Catalonia its Spanish and European leadership and it has become its main engine of economic growth.