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Date Published: 18/11/2024

More than 700,000 people visit Caravaca de la Cruz in the Holy Jubilee year

Murcia regional president Fernando López Miras announced these figures during his participation in a forum about tourism

Despite the fact that a number of people in Spain have done their best to discourage tourism this year with their anti-tourism protests, the Region of Murcia has boasted its largest number of visitors in history, and this is partly down to the attraction of Caravaca de la Cruz during its Holy Jubilee Year.

The region’s president has suggested that the Region of Murcia is experiencing the best year of tourism in its history with a record number of visitors, job creation and economic impact.

During the Jubilee year of Caravaca de la Cruz, the area has experienced a huge number of tourists and visitors. The president said that the numbers have already exceeded 700,000 visitors, consolidating itself as “a tourist and economic lever that generates opportunities”, and something which is owed partly to Caravaca’s alternative to the overtourism plaguing other parts of Spain: Slow Tourism.

Slow Tourism, which Caravaca is choosing to specialise in, focuses on allowing holidaymakers to have deeper, enriching experiences in their destinations of choice as opposed to over-priced and poor-quality goods and services.

López Miras made his announcement during his participation in the Forum ‘Conversa: Challenges and strategies for promoting tourism as an economic pillar’, organised by Radio Murcia Cadena SER, where he also highlighted that “the Region of Murcia is experiencing a historic moment in terms of tourism, with a record number of visitors, job creation, Social Security affiliation and, also, in terms of its economic impact.”

The importance of visitors to the Caravaca area and the Region of Murcia as a whole runs counter to the anti-tourism sentiment that has been witnessed in recent months around the country. The area realises that if not for tourism the economy would be a lot worse off than it is at the moment.

The president specifically points to regional tourist accommodation, both hotel and non-hotel, recording an influx of over 1.47 million travellers from January to September, 5.4% more than in the same period in 2023, exceeding the increase in the national total, which stood at 3.9%. Likewise, overnight stays exceeded 4.5 million, which is 4.3% higher than in the same period in 2023. Tourism GDP has also reached its historical maximum with 4.1 billion euros.

The president therefore points to the importance of tourism and its ability to help the people of Murcia thrive economically. He concluded by stating, “The Region of Murcia is a destination that has a lot to offer and great potential.”

In this way, Murcia is looking to the future where even more economic commitment can be placed on the influx of responsible, sustainable tourism.

For more local information, news and what's on visit the home page of Caravaca Today

Image: Ayuntamiento de Caravaca de la Cruz

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Oficina de Turismo de Caravaca de la Cruz

Caravaca de la Cruz Tourist Office More information about the places of interest which can be visited in the municipality of Caravaca de la Cruz, along with what's on and local news can be found in the Caravaca Today.

Caravaca de la Cruz, in the north-west of the Region of Murcia, is one of only 5 Holy Cities in the Roman Catholic world, a centre of pilgrimage, along with Rome, Jerusalem, Santiago de Compostela and Santo Toribio de Liebana, and is home to the Cross of Caravaca, the Vera Cruz.

The status of Holy City was bestowed by Pope John Paul II in 1998, granting the City a Permanent Jubilee year every 7 years for perpetuity, the first one held in 2003 and the next in 2024.

Caravaca de la Cruz Tourist Office

The strategic and natural advantages of Caravaca de la Cruz have attracted the attention of settlers for more than 800,000 years, the Cueva Negra yielding remains of Homo Heidelbergensis, forbears of the Neanderthals and the municipality also houses important archaeological remains from the Argaric, Iberian and Roman cultures. many of these can be seen in the Municipal Archaeological Museum.

Caravaca de la Cruz Tourist Office As a border town caught between the Catholic forces of Castille and the last remaining Moorish stronghold in Spain, Granada, Caravaca had a turbulent medieval history, but it was during this period that the legend of the Cross of Caravaca was born, bringing the religious orders which shaped the structure of Caravaca today, with its impressive hilltop castle and eclectic collection of churches and monasteries, religious tourism today being a backbone of the town´s economy.

Caravaca de la Cruz is a municipality with important natural resources, including extensive forests, part of which have protected status due to their wealth of flora and fauna, and due to the abundant water supplies is also a major area for canned fruit production, apricots in particular being an important crop.

Caravaca de la Cruz Tourist Office Caravaca is renown for its important May Fiestas, held in honour of the Vera Cruz, which also incorporate the Moors and Christians celebrations and the Running of the Wine Horses.

Caravaca de la Cruz is also the home of Europe´s largest collection of ethnic instruments at Barranda, the Museo de Música Étnica Barranda and is the location of the Barranda festival de Cuadrillas, which celebrates the Region's ethnic music traditions.

The municipality is home to around 26,000 inhabitants and sahres boundaries with Moratalla, Cehegín, Lorca, Puebla de Don Fadrique in the province of Granada and Vélez-Blanco in the province of Almería.

Opening times:

Weekdays: 10.00 to 14.00 and 16.30 to 19.30

Saturdays: 10.30 to 14.00 and 16.30 to 19.30

Sundays and public holidays: 10.30 to 14.00

Click for map, Caravaca de la Cruz Tourist Office