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ANDALUCIA has enjoyed its most successful summer in history in terms of tourism. 

Spain’s southernmost region benefited from more than 26 million overnight stays in hotels between June and September, new figures show.

According to the Ministry of Tourism, the region enjoyed the second-highest growth in terms of overnight stays after Madrid.

“Andalucia has completed the best summer in history after receiving 8.4 million travellers from June to September and adding a total of 26.2 million stays during the same period,” a statement confirmed.

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The number is a 3.5% increase compared to the summer of 2018.

The success is mostly down to the domestic market, which grew by 6.5%, compared to the 0.7% growth in foreign visitors.

The encouraging growth saw around 47,000 jobs created in the hotel industry, a 4.2% increase on last summer.

It comes as the national average saw a 0.6% decline in overnight stays in September, however this was largely attributed to the collapse of British tour operator Thomas Cook.