MADRID, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Spanish companies see the Chinese New Year as an opportunity to increase sales to Chinese tourists, Director of International Marketing at the emblematic Corte Ingles department store, Javier Fernandez Andrino, told Xinhua on Tuesday.

The Corte Ingles held a celebration to mark the arrival of the Year of the Pig with a party attended by celebrities from both the Spanish and Chinese communities in Madrid, including Chinese Ambassador to Spain Lyu Fan.

"The New Year is important for stores all over Europe, not just in Spain, because Chinese tourists have become excellent clients and it is an honor to celebrate the New Year with our visitors," said Andrino.

The Corte Ingles' flagship store in the central Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid, welcomes around 150,000 Chinese tourists every year and employs several Chinese speakers to help them make their purchases.

"The more attention we can give, then the more comfortable they feel. It helps them feel welcome and that means they spend more time with us. So that benefits us all," Andrino told Xinhua.

The importance of China to the Corte Ingles was made clear in 2018 when the company signed an agreement with Chinese company Alibaba to develop close collaboration in different areas, such as retail and distribution, cloud computing services and digital innovation and payment using mobile phones.

"The Chinese are our most important international clients..." concluded Andrino.

Meanwhile, the Chinese ambassador said that the "objective of the New Year is to help us have greater reciprocal understanding, to look after our traditional friendship and further develop bilateral relations."

"I also want to offer Spanish people the chance to get to know China and that the Year of the Pig brings us prosperity, good luck and peace," he commented.