Tourism became a huge deal in Spain long before there was an EU with Schengen, and long before Spain joined the EU. This was a policy of Francisco Franco’s regime dating to the 1950s. And they pursued it relentlessly.
It was the dictatorship that created the airports, roads, hotel networks (some of the jewels of the “parador” system date to that time). It was the dictatorship that made it easy for British people, especially, to buy beachfront property. And so forth.
By the time Spain joined the EU (1986) the whole industry was in place and millions of tourists had been coming to Spain annually for decades.
Mr. Buwaya is right. Spain‘s entry into the EU(ssr) provided just, metaphorically speaking, the whipped cream on the cake of mass tourism.
But there is a second helping of cream now: huge numbers of tourists from Asia, now that so many Chinese and Indians are able to vacation abroad.
These numbers add up…🙁