A hat seller wears his merchandise on his head as he tries to sell hats to tourists outside the Royal Palace in Madrid, Spain, September 21, 2018. REUTERS/Susana Vera

MADRID (Reuters) - Tourist numbers to Spain fell 1.9 percent in August for the second month in a row, in a sign growth in visitors is starting to stagnate after nearly five years of record numbers due to the resurgence of rivals like Turkey and North Africa.

It is the first time August registered a decline in tourist numbers since 2009, according to official data.

The number of tourists visiting Spain in the eight months of 2018 fell by 0.1 percent to a total of 57.3 million.