Origin and consolidation of the hotel sector in the capital of Spanish tourism: San Sebastián between 1868 and 1914

ABSTRACTThe objective of this article is to study the origin and consolidation of the hotel industry in the city of San Sebastián, the tourism capital of Spain between the last third of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century. During these years, modern tourism was born and a Spanish tourism system took shape. Thanks to the presence of the royal family and the so-called elite tourism, San Sebastián played a decisive role in the Spanish tourism panorama. Specifically, the evolution of the tourism industry is studied alongside the evolution of the tourism development experienced in this period. Therefore the evolution of the demand (number of visitors) and of the supply (number of establishments) are both contemplated.KEYWORDS: Hotel industryhotel businesstourist businesstourismSan SebastiánSpain Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.Additional informationFundingPID2021-122476NB-I00 research project, financed by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/ and the FEDER/ERDF Una manera de hacer Europa/A way of making Europe.Notes on contributorsCarlos LarrinagaCarlos Larrinaga is Reader in Economic History at the University of Granada (Spain). His research is in the history of tourism, railways in the 19th century and the service sector. He is currently leading an interdisciplinary project on the history of tourism in Spain and Italy in the first third of the twentieth century, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the European Regional Development Fund. He has undertaken research in several stays at Bordeaux-Montaigne University and at Aberystwyth University. Email: larrinag67@hotmail.com; clarrinaga@ugr.es