Spain barely missed its deficit-cutting target for 2013 with the government hailing the result as a significant achievement in a year of job-wrecking recession.
The total amount spent by international tourists in Spain in the first eight months of the year reached €40.47 billion ($54.81 billion), an increase of 7.2 percent over the same period in 2012.
Madrid's gay pride event, known as 'MADO', kicks off on Wednesday and shops and bars located in the festival area can expect to make heftier than usual profits as a result.
