After a bit of a break, most probably due to the economic crisis, local tourists are now back on the Costa del Sol.

Beach at Torremolinos

Torremolinos is now the second most popular destination in the country, second only to Benidorm, in terms of hotel occupancy.

Good news indeed for local tourism in southern Spain, as tourism figures for May confirm an increase in the popularity of the Costa del Sol for Spaniards, after a two-year decrease in occupancy.

Sur in English says that INE (National Institute of Statistics) is reporting that domestic tourism figures are up by 20.6% in May compared with 2012, and the number of hotel nights are up by 19%. This all adds up to an additional 25,383 Spanish visitors, staying 57,000 more nights than they did in May last year.

The positive upward trend coincides with the campaigns launched by the Junta de Andalucía and central government to encourage Spaniards to "holiday at home." With a country as versatile as Spain, the possibilities are, of course, endless.

Reportedly, the numbers of foreign tourists visiting the Costa del Sol also increased in May by 13%, which meant a 12% increase in overnight hotel stays.

INE reckons that 301,934 foreign tourists visited the Costa in May, reserving 1,258,199 nights in hotels.

So far, Torremolinos has benefited most from the increases and is now second only to Benidorm for hotel occupancy.

May saw 79.7% of Torremolinos hotels booked, an increase of 13% on overnight stays compared with the same time the previous year, bringing a total of around 495,000.

Generally in Andalucía there was an increase in hotel stays of 11.4 per cent in May.

Good news indeed for a country who relies so much on tourism, especially during these difficult times.