2.4 million and 12% more in the first half

THE thirteen visitable spaces in Cordoba They added 2,439,150 visitors in the first six months of 2024, according to official data for the first two quarters from the Municipal Tourism Institute (Imtur) of the Córdoba City Hall. A figure which demonstrates the excellent state of the city’s tourism sector. Leave behind the 2,181,459 travelers who crossed its monumental and museum enclosure during the first half of last year. It gained 257,691 visits compared to 2023 in absolute terms, which reaches the aforementioned double-digit figure (12%) in relative terms.

Furthermore, the 2.43 million views of the first six months of this year 2024 also mark a historic record of travelers who received its thirteen monuments and museums, since they far exceed the 2.31 million visitors that they accumulated in the first half of 2019, it is i.e. just before the Covid pandemic tourist registers destroyed. Until today. Five years later, to certify the complete return to normality, surpassing the figure that until now marked the ceiling of tickets sold in its theaters. This year continues the upward trend that marked the entire year of 2023.

There is another piece of information that speaks very well about the current situation. The increase is not driven exclusively by the attraction of a specific museum or monument which may mask the improvement. Nor is it a trend that is limited to the city’s four major attractions (Mosque-Cathedral, Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos, Synagogue and Medina Azahara). The best possible conclusion from the increase in visitor numbers is that it is supported by a growth in everyone the visitable spaces. There is only one exception, the Archaeological Museum, which loses, although this can be explained by the new way of counting visits.

Concerning

THE Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba It continues to be the most visited monument in the city, by a wide margin over the second, which it almost triples. This is the consequence of the presence in the city of one of the monumental jewels of Spain. The Cordoba Temple managed to exceed one million tickets sold from January to June. Concretely, the Chapter of the Cathedral of Córdoba must be proud to see 1.17 million visitors pass in front of the red and white arches of its interior. Last year, it reached one million in the first half. The growth in the number of tickets issued was 172,342, an increase of 17.2 percent.

If the trend continues in the second half of the year, with autumn becoming more and more similar to spring in terms of tourism in the city, the Mosque-Cathedral will again exceed two million visitors in 2024. The temple of Córdoba brings together near the half of the visits to all the city’s monuments and museums: 1.17 million out of 2.43.

There are other reasons for satisfaction in the visitor count from January to June. Among them, the monument which is experiencing the strongest growth in number of visits is the Synagoguewhich increases the number of people passing through it by 26.7 percent in the first half of the year compared to the same period last year. The Synagogue exceeds 300,000 visitors. It racked up an impressive 337,561 entries from January to June. This means that 71,000 more people passed through compared to the previous year, when it was 266,000.

He Alcazar of Christian Kings It is consolidated as the second most visited attraction in the city, behind the Mosque-Cathedral and ahead of the Synagogue. The gardens have already reached almost four hundred thousand people in just six months, with 395,621 visitors. It grew by more than 28,000 visits, representing a growth of 7.6 percent.

And this, despite all the controversies in municipal politics and the obvious delay in the return of the nighttime show. Without a doubt, it is an additional reason for attraction to access the monument which is currently not available. Despite this, its numbers are excellent, now accessible to the public from the southern part.

The four large ones are completed by the palatine city of Medina Azahara in fourth place in the local “Big Four”. Just over 120,000 people contemplated its spaces and ruins, with a more moderate increase than the rest of only 2.7 percent and an additional 3,200 people between its walls and paths.

Another good news revealed by the Imtur data on visits to the thirteen museums and monuments of Córdoba is the qualitative leap that the Viana Palacein this case pampered by Cajasur (Kutxabank), its owner. The place has also overcome the psychological barrier of 100,000 visits, to become the most requested space in the “other” league of monuments and museums in Córdoba, that of the nine attractions that are not part of the big four.

In fact, the Viana Palace is very, very close to giving the ‘surprise” in Medina Azahara. During the first six months of this year, 110,386 visitors were added, to which were added ten thousand more visitors to the Palatine city. Its growth was exponential. It gained 21,000 travelers, compared to 89,636 in first half of 2023. It saw an increase of 23.1 percent. The second half could be definitive to place among the four most watched. of history.

There is also a notable increase of 19 percent in Alcazar Bathsto exceed 65,000 entries. It maintains the trend that it had already initiated last year. In just two years, this place has doubled its number of visitors, from 31,884 from January to June 2022 to more than 65,000 in the first half of this year.

A special mention deserves Archaeological Museum. This is the only space that is losing visitors. There is a very sensible explanation. In its registrations, this year, it no longer counts people who pass through the premises to visit the Patios, the Flora and other events taking place there but without entering the museum. From now on, the count only counts people who access the museum premises.

For this reason, the accounts do not give a real view of the situation. With this important nuance, the Archaeological Museum has lost half of its visitors (53.9%): from 128,555 in the first half of last year to 59,251 this year.

The eighth position is for the Calahorraat the same access to the Romero bridge. The tower was visited by just over 57,000 people, which also translates into growth of 20.5 percent.

to the queue

At the bottom of the visitor rankings from January to June 2024, as every year, are the Museum of Fine Arts, the Julio Romero de Torres Museum, in which no investment has yet been made for its expansion, the Bullfighting Museum, the Chapel of San Bartolomé and unfortunately the Botanical Garden.

He Fine arts brought together in the first half of the year nearly forty thousand people (39,587), the museum of the most famous Cordovan painter in history exceeds thirty-five thousand (35,465), the Bullfighting Museum there remain nearly twenty thousand (19,672) and the Saint-Barthélemy Chapel skip eighteen thousand (18,497).

Finally is the Botanical garden. The natural area only had 8,612 visits over the first six months of the year. His situation led him to take steps towards his recovery. On the other hand, the Botanical Garden will offer a nighttime show, based on dinosaurs, which the municipality had initially postponed until September.