In the province of León in Spain, there is a strange phenomenon. At certain times, there are thousands of tourists that do not officially exist.
Where do the numbers come from? The Spanish National Statistics Institute (“Instituto Nacional de Estadística”, or INE) measures tourist flows based on the locations of mobile phones. It counts the number of mobile phones over cell towers in the area (via INE.es)
- Fuentes de Carbajal is a locality in León with 24 inhabitants. According to statistics, the place received 1,826 tourists between July and August 2024.
- In San Millán de los Caballeros, the INE registered 1,648 tourists in July 2024 and 1,602 in August, totaling 3,250. The locality has only 191 inhabitants.
- Similarly, Izagre, with 137 inhabitants, is reported by the statistics office to have received nearly 2,000 summer holidaymakers.
The localities partly explain that they have never seen these tourists. The mayor of San Millán de los Caballeros stated that while they have 4 major festivals a year, not 2,000 tourists come for them.
Thousands of Tourists Due to Experimental Statistics?
So where are the thousands of tourists coming from? The Spanish statistics office itself stated that the measured data is experimental, and the more accurate it is, the more cell towers are nearby. Without a cell tower, it is not possible to measure persons.
The problem in the province: There are very few antennas here. The institute explained to the Spanish-speaking magazine Xataka that with very few antennas in a region, there can quickly be over- as well as underestimations. Thus, the institute stated:
In such contexts with low antenna density, the territorial assignment loses accuracy, which can lead to both over- and underestimations in the results.
In the worst case, people who were not there at all are counted in regions. In fact, one of the network operators made changes to its zoning system in March 2025, which should now allow technicians to achieve “a more balanced distribution between neighboring communities” in counting.
Another problem is the counting itself: a person who, for example, travels to a locality every weekend in July is counted each time in the statistics. However, the INE also emphasizes that these are only supposed to be experimental values.
Additionally, there is another problem: the data provided to the INE is anonymous and processed by each network provider. In the end, the institute only receives a table of data without being able to verify the data properly. For reasons of statistical confidentiality, the institute also holds back certain data.
What is now the cause? The high visitor numbers in the small villages are likely due to technical problems. At least that aligns with the experiences of the communities in León, who have never seen the 1,800 tourists. This would also correspond to other data: near Fuentes de Carbajal, there are other villages with a visitor balance of zero.
The most famous cities in Japan are currently experiencing a significant increase in tourists. To support weaker regions, visitors are encouraged to increasingly travel to rural areas. At the same time, this is intended to relieve the cities: There are so many tourists in Japan that the government is now sending them to the countryside
