During the year 2023, the city of Gjirokastra was visited by about 80 thousand tourists from Spain, who rank second in terms of interest in visiting the stone city after Italian tourists. Even in these first days of the new year, along the cobbled streets, you can meet Spanish tourists, who visit the traditional Bazaar, the castle and the characteristic stone houses.

“I’m from Madrid, the capital of Spain, and I’m visiting the city because we like the tourist tours in this period besides the summer. Albania is an attractive country because it has many UNESCO assets and I think it is interesting to visit,” said an tourist.

“I am also from Madrid. We are visiting the city in this period because it is an attractive place to explore in winter, although the weather has been cloudy several times, we still enjoyed this tour as we saw the characteristic buildings, the castle. So it’s something wonderful,” said another tourist.

“In addition to foreign and local visitors, an increase in the number of Spanish visitors and tourists has been noticed during 2023, which has been quite significant, they have shown interest mainly in the city of Gjirokastra for what the city of Gjirokastra represents, the entire cultural heritage as is known, Gjirokastra is a UNESCO brand and this has also attracted Spanish tourists, their curiosity to get to know more closely the cultural heritage of the city of Gjirokastra, the architecture and so on”, said Besian Dida, tourist guide.

During the last year, Gjirokastra was visited by about 300 thousand tourists, some of whom, including visitors from Spain, have returned two or more times to visit the values ​​of the world cultural heritage, part of UNESCO.

“We have noticed during these years that there have been foreign visitors, not only those who come for the first time, but also tourists who have returned for the second or third time after being recommended by their friends or family members who have been before in the city of Gjirokastra or in Albania and they were satisfied, they did not feel disappointed and they expressed the desire to return to Albania or the city of Gjirokastra”, said Besian Dida, tourist guide.

Now the tourism sector has become the main promoter of the development of the local economy in the region of Gjirokastra.