Spain took a big step on the road back to normality with the end of the six-month-long nationwide state of alarm in the early hours of Sunday.

But while Spaniards have been celebrating, for two of the country's main industries the future remains uncertain.

With the ending of the state of alarm came the end of the night-time curfews, travel is now also allowed between almost all of Spain's 17 regions.

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Spike in domestic tourism numbers. 

That has already caused revenue from domestic tourism to shoot up, with Spain's main rail operator RENFE reporting a 13 percent rise in ticket sales for the next seven days.

However, Spain's domestic tourism revenues pale into insignificance when compared with what international tourism generates.

Two of the main beneficiaries of overseas travelers to Spain are the hospitality and tourism sectors.

Pre-pandemic tourism accounted for 13 percent of Spain's gross domestic product (GDP), while hospitality, which was a $111 billion industry, has suffered a 75 percent fall in its revenues over the past year.

The ongoing uncertainty over international travel means there is still no guarantee over when they will return to those pre-2020 levels.

Missing the Britons

Last week, Spain found it had been left off the latest list of safe travel destinations released by the UK.

Before 2020 British tourists spent more than $11 billion a year in the country, making them hugely important for Islands such as Mallorca.

Maria Frontera is the President of the Mallorca Hotel Business Federation and she told CGTN Europe that tourism was the lifeblood of the island.

"We are all in need to restart that activity of tourism and for us it's really important. It accounts for 42 percent of the GDP here in the Island. After that disastrous economic situation that we had in 2020, we need to restart as soon as possible. And we are hoping that the UK will make that differentiation with the islands."

Unlike Germany, the UK does not currently differentiate travel restrictions by region. German tourists are allowed to travel to Mallorca, as it has one of Spain's lowest infection rates.

Frontera says the regional government has appealed to the UK to take this into consideration ahead of peak season.

"It has been determined for us that we can start in the first week of June. So most of us, or at least 50 percent of us, have the opportunity of being open until October or November. It's important, more than 4,000 businesses on the island have disappeared already," she said.

With just two weeks to go until high season, the stakes for the hospitality industry in Spain could not be higher, another summer like last year would be nothing short of a disaster for many in the industry.

Cover image: Passengers wearing face masks arrive at Palma de Mallorca airport in March 2021./Francisco Ubilla/AP.