MADRID, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- The number of foreign tourists visiting Spain fell for the second consecutive year in 2009, according to figures released Wednesday.

    About 52 million foreigners chose to spend their holidays in Spain, a 8.7 percent fall over the previous year when 57.3 million foreign tourists visited the country.

    It was the steepest drop since comparative figures began to be kept in 2001, but was less than the 10 percent decline that experts had predicted.

    The main reason for the decline was the economic crisis, which hit both Germany and Great Britain, two counties traditionally providing the largest numbers of visitors to Spain.

    Each visitor spent around 990 euros (about 1434 U.S. dollars) during his visit, according to the figures. Around 2,200,000 Spaniards work in the tourist industry.

    Granada's Alhambra received more tourists than any other attractions in Spain with around 3 million visitors in 2009.

    Madrid's El Prado art gallery and the Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona were second and third on the list of the most visited attractions.