Spain hotel stays drop as contagion reaches tourism

MADRID, July 22 (Reuters) - Spain's tourism sector suffered more signs of contagion from the slowdown on Tuesday as data showed hotel stays dropped 2.3 percent year-on-year in June, down from growth of 6.6 percent in May.

The second-largest driver of the Spanish economy had held up so far in the sharp slowdown led by construction and housing but the effects are starting to seep through.

Spain is the world's second most popular holiday destination, attracting some 60 million tourists last year.

On Monday, the government said foreign tourist arrivals dropped 0.7 percent in June.

On Tuesday, national statistics institute INE said 57.7 percent of hotel rooms were full in June, 5.4 points lower than in the same month a year earlier. Even at the weekends, occupancy was 63.9 percent, down 3.1 percent year-on-year.

Hotel prices rose by 1.6 percent year-on-year in June, below the overall inflation rate of around 5 percent. In May, prices had risen 1.3 percent. (Reporting by Manuel Ruiz; Writing by Jane Barrett; Editing by Victoria Main)