Spanish tourism administration is designing special cultural sightseeing products and training more Chinese-speaking tour guides to woo more tourists from China, an official with the Spanish Embassy in Beijing said in Beijing on Wednesday.

"We are preparing special sightseeing routes for the Chinese tourists, who often take great interest in historical and cultural sites," said Arturo Claver, tourism official with the Spanish Embassy in Beijing.

Tourism administration in Spain is also taking steps to ease the current shortage of tour guides who can speak Chinese. Some hotels in Spain are also planning to offer unique services to Chinese visitors, said the official.

According to the official, last year Spain received 55.6 million foreign tourists, up six percent over the previous year, which made the country the world's second most popular tourism destination only after France.

However, he conceded that while many Chinese tourists know a lot about Spain, from Real Madrid to the matador, Spain still finds it very challenging to prepare satisfactory sightseeing routes for visitors from China.

(Xinhua News Agency June 8, 2006)