Sunseekers spurning unrest in Egypt and Turkey flocked to Spain in record numbers last month, setting the country up for its best-ever year for visitors and giving a boost to the ailing economy.

“It is very likely that 2013 will be the best year historically for tourism,” Industry Minister Jose Manuel Soria told a news conference yesterday, adding that estimates for the fourth quarter were positive.

Tourism contributed over five per cent of Spain’s economy or GDP in 2012 and provided around 900,000 jobs, according to Euromonitor, in a country where one in four is out of work, meaning a boost to tourist figures should be good news as other sectors flag.

The number of international tourist arrivals in August rose to 8.3 million, figures from the tourism ministry showed, lifting the total for January through August by 4.5 per cent on the year before to 42.3 million.

Those visitors spent a total of €40.4 billion, up seven per cent from 2012.

Political upheaval in other destinations has also benefited other Mediterranean countries, such as Greece.

Many tourists have been choosing to rent private homes advertised on the Internet. And despite government efforts to tighten regulation around private renting, the trend is becoming more ingrained. (Reuters)

, with the number of rentals by tourists up 15 per cent in August year-on-year to 1.3 million properties.

The unregulated rental industry has its risks since landlords and renters have little recourse if things go wrong, but it is worth it for homeowners who rent out year-round.