COVID-19 leaves Spain's interior a tourist desert

The Mezquita, an eighth-century mosque later turned into a cathedral, is the most visited site in the Andalusian town in southern Spain.

But since it reopened at the end of May, only 16,000 people have set foot in the UNESCO World Heritage site considered one of the most accomplished works of Moorish architecture - the number of visitors it would normally receive in a week.

A lone tourist walks around The Mezquita in Cordova, one of Spain's interior cities that is being disproportionately hit by the drop in tourism.

"It will take months to make that up," said church spokesman Jose Juan Jimenez Gueto, although money set aside in previous years means staff have been kept busy with restoration projects.

Nearby restaurants, hotels and shops are not so lucky, and many are closed.

In Spain, the world's number two tourist destination behind France, spending by foreign tourists plunged by 62 percent in the first five months of the year compared with the same period in 2019.

In Andalusia, hotel occupancy is at an average of just 25 percent, a good 10 percentage points lower than in establishments along the coast, said Francisco de la Torre, head of the region's hotel association.

Tourists arrive to a visit The Mezquita in Cordoba after restrictions were lifted following a national lockdown put in place to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

US travel blogger Alyssa Ramos poses for a photo at the "Patio de los Naranjos" at The Mezquita in Cordoba.

Tourists walk in the "Patio de los Naranjos" at The Mezquita in Cordoba.

A tourist visits the "Patio de los Naranjos" at The Mezquita in Cordoba.

Tourists shop for souvenirs in Cordoba. In Spain, the world's number two tourist destination behind France, spending by foreign tourists has plunged by 62 percent in the first five months of the year compared with the same period in 2019.

A tourist guide works at The Mezquita in Cordoba.

A shop owner looks down an empty street in Cordoba after restrictions were lifted following a national lockdown put in place to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Foreign tourists are nearly non-existent and even Spanish tourists few and far between.