Spain received 25.2 million international tourists from January to May, 11.4 percent more than the same period a year earlier, according to data released Thursday by Spain's Statistical Office (INE).

"This year we are going to break a record in the number of tourists," German Porras, general secretary at Mesa del Turismo, told Xinhua in an interview, "We hope to receive about 72 million international visitors."

This figure, he said, "reaffirms Spain as the third biggest travel destination, which is very important taking into account Spain is a medium-sized country."

Spain received 5.8 million tourists from Britain in the first five months of the year, marking a 16.1 percent increase when compared with the same period of 2015. They were followed by Germans and French with 3.8 million and 3.7 million arrivals respectively.

"More or less 80 percent of our tourists are European," he said, highlighting that "Spain is seen as a safe destination with good public services that can assist tourists."

Spain has agreements with Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Portugal on tourist security and conduct joint police patrols with officers from these countries. The country also ranked first in the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report published by the World Economic Forum.

The number of tourists also increased in May. The INE reported that the country received 7.1 million international tourists that month, 7.4 percent more than the same month a year earlier.

"The tourist sector represents 10.9 percent of Spain's gross domestic product, 12 percent of employment and we are the main exporting sector of the Spanish economy," Porras said.