29/10/2003 00:00
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Staff Reporter THE Balearic Islands was the region of Spain registering the highest occupancy levels in holiday flats during September this year, with 66.15 percent. Although the Canary Islands was the area that received most visitors who had opted for this type of accommodation, the tourist apartments available in the region didn't fill to the same level as those in the Balearics. According to a survey into tourist apartment occupancy, published yesterday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), 879'751 travellers in Spain used this type of accommodation during the month of September, adding up to a total of 7'969'334 overnight stays. This represented an average period of stay of nine nights and each place registering an average occupancy level of 49.09 percent. The Canary Islands registered 406'446 visitors in tourist apartments representing 3.5 million overnight stays. The Balearic Islands followed at a distance registering 175'332 visitors and 1.8 million overnight stays; as did Catalonia (87'558 travellers and 781'464 overnight stays). At the opposite end of the scale, the region of La Rioja registered only 262 occupants in touristic apartments; Castilla y León, 282; and the Basque country, 496 visitors. Regarding the occupancy level per individual place, the regions registering the highest percentages after the Balearic Islands were the Canary Islands, with 53.21 percent, Murcia (52.21 percent) and Madrid (51.05 percent).




The areas with the lowest level of occupation per place were Extremadura (11.69 percent), Castilla y León (12.70 percent) and Aragón (16.06 percent).
The average period of overnight stays exceeded 10 days in Murcia (10.89 nights), Valencia (10.58 nights) and in the Balearics (10.44).
Castilla-La Mancha's average period of overnight stays only reached 2.38 and La Rioja's, 2.62.
The government recognises the popularity of this form of accommodation and has been tightening up controls on apartments let to tourists, to ensure that standards remain high and the owners of the apartments meet with their fiscal obligations.