Due to domestic tourism and the assumption that leased residences are safer than hotels, Spanish holiday rentals are more extensively booked for August than they were before the COVID-19 outbreak, according to Spain’s top holiday booking website Rentalia.

According to Rentalia, the occupancy of apartments and houses leased to visitors throughout the summer will jump to 89.2 percent next month, up 12 percentage points from the previous year and barely above the 88.5 percent recorded in 2019, before the pandemic struck.

The Balearic Islands of Menorca and Mallorca, as well as the mainland vacation area of Alicante, are predicted to have the highest rates of over 94 percent.

Domestic visitors remaining in Spain because of persisting travel restrictions in several countries, as well as the perception that renting a home is safer than staying in a hotel, have boosted demand, according to Rentalia director Almudena Ucha.

“Additionally, given the restrictions on leisure activities in some places, many families or groups are looking for lodging where they may have parties without being restricted,” she said.

Spain’s tourism industry was devastated by the travel restrictions imposed last year to curb the pandemic.

Only 19 million foreign tourists came to Spain in 2020, down from more than 80 million before the pandemic. The irregular easing of restrictions has brought back some tourists though officials expect only about half as many tourists from abroad this summer as before the pandemic.