In 2024, Spain’s tourism sector reached the staggering number of 138 million international visitors. This figure represents an increase of more than 10 million visitors versus the previous year and also versus 2019, right before the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Where and for how long do visitors in Spain usually stay? Hotels are by a wide margin the preferred type of accommodation for international tourists in Spain. More than 49 million foreign tourists in Spanish territory opted for such lodging services in 2022. Additionally, 7.3 million travelers stayed at friends’ or relatives’ homes during their trips, while a similar number chose a short-term rental option. The trip length chosen by international overnight travelers in Spain also varied in 2022, though almost half of them stayed between four and seven nights. Meanwhile, over 29 million tourists extended their stay for at least eight nights. However, Spain is also a popular day-trip destination. For instance, more than 33 million non-residents crossed the Spanish border in 2022 for a short visit. Where do people visiting Spain come from? In 2022, the most common country of origin among international tourists in Spain was the United Kingdom, with a total of over 15 million travelers making the trip. Spain’s immediate neighbor to the East, France, was second with more than 10 million French travelers visiting Spain. Out of the 17 autonomous communities, Catalonia was the top Spanish destination for international tourism in that same year, welcoming nearly 15 million people in total.

Around 446 thousand people finished the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in 2023. Within ten years, the number of pilgrims to this Spanish city has increased by 107 percent. The Way of Saint James - which is how this pilgrimage is officially known – is one of the most popular pilgrimage routes in Europe. Traveling on the Camino de Santiago Travelers have a variety of routes to choose from when embarking on the trip. The French Way is the most popular path taken by pilgrims on the way to Santiago de Compostela. Also, the majority of pilgrims journey by foot on the Way of St. James, although some travelers also complete the trek by horseback, sailing, bicycling, as well as in wheelchairs.
Who participates in the Way of St. James? People from diverse backgrounds participate in the Camino de Santiago. In 2023, the majority of pilgrims were between 46 and 65 years old and, a little more than 11 percent of pilgrims who voyaged to the shrine of St. James were 66 years or older. Looking at the gender distribution of the Camino de Santiago trekkers, there were slightly more women than men on the pilgrimage in 2023. Overall, approximately 77 percent of the journeyers were religiously motivated to complete the Camino de Santiago that same year.

The United Kingdom was the main country of origin for international tourism in Spain in 2024. In that year, more than 18 million British travelers headed South for a trip to Spain. Meanwhile, France ranked in second place that year, accounting for around 13 million foreign visitors to Spanish territory.

In 2023, the arrivals at tourist accomodations incl. hotels, holiday and other short-stay accommodation as well as camping grounds, recreational vehicle parks and trailer parks in Spain increased by 11.8 million arrivals (+8.87 percent) since 2022. Therefore, the tourist arrivals in Spain reached a peak in 2023 with 144.83 million arrivals. An arrival is defined as a person (tourist) who arrives at a tourist accommodation establishment and checks in or arrives at non-rented accommodation.Find more statistics on hotels, holiday and other short-stay accommodation as well as camping grounds, recreational vehicle parks and trailer parks in Spain with key insights such as number of tourist overnight stays in travel accommodation, number of tourist overnight stays in travel accommodation, arrivals at tourist accomodations of foreign countries, and number of domestic tourist arrivals at accommodation establishments.

In 2024, Catalonia was the most visited region by international tourists in Spain. This Spanish autonomous community ranked first thanks to the almost 20 million people visiting from abroad, roughly five million more than the visitors welcomed in the insular communities.

The value of goods and services offered by the tourism sector in Spain increased by more than 11 percent in 2024, surpassing 200 billion euros. In 2025, the tourism GDP in the Iberian country could grow by eight percent. Holidaymakers in Spain France was the leading source country for inbound tourism in Spain in 2020. Although British tourists in Spain have traditionally been the largest visitor group in the Mediterranean country, the number of travelers from Britain declined by almost 15 million in 2020, most likely due to difficulties created as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Notably, the share of domestic tourist expenditure was higher than the share of international tourist expenditure in the country in 2020, which was different from the share of tourism expenditure in Spain prior to COVID-19. COVID-19 impact on the Spanish tourism industry As of December 2021, the travel and tourism sector in Spain was still recovering from the economy-wide disruptions caused by the global health crisis. The monthly growth rate of tourism GDP in Spain was lower in every month of 2020 and 2021 compared to the same month in 2019. Additionally, businesses within the sector reported lower revenues since the beginning of the pandemic, with negative earnings growth rates in Spanish tourism companies in 2020 and 2021 compared to reported earnings in 2019.

The number of tourists who visited Spain in 1959, in the early years of the tourism boom, was approximately 4.2 million people. Over the following 14 years, Spain's economy would catch up with growth rates experienced across Western Europe, during the most prosperous period in the continent's history. The climate and affordability of Spain, along with the accessibility of air travel and increased levels of disposable income in other countries, combined to make Spain the most popular holiday destination on the continent. By 1973, just before the first major recession of the late-20th century, approximately 34.6 million tourists visited Spain; this is roughly equal to Spain's total population at the time.

The monthly number of international visitors in Spain in 2024 registered a significant improvement from the previous year, with every month's figure increasing when compared to 2022. August is usually the most turistic month in the Iberian country.

In 2023, hotels were the most chosen type of accommodation by international tourists in Spain. In total, roughly 57.2 million foreign visitors in the European country stayed in such travel accommodation. The second most popular lodgings among foreign visitors in Spain were the homes of family or friends.

Air transport was the main mode of transport for international visitors in Spain in 2023, accounting for more than 69.5 million in that year. Another 13 million foreign tourists in the European country arrived to their destination by car or bus.

The number of residents of the United States who visited Spain in 2022 amounted to approximately 2.8 million, which represents an annual increase of 250 percent. This figure almost equaled pre-pandemic data.

In 2023, the tourism sector in Spain employed roughly 2.6 million people, growing from the previous two years. However, this figure was still below pre-pandemic years.

August was the month with the highest number of international visitors in Spain in 2021, 2022 and, 2023. In August of that last year, around 15.3 million inbound visitors entered the Spanish territory. Over ten million of them were overnight tourists while the rest corresponded to same-day visitors.

The total expenditure of international tourists in Spain rose by more than 137 percent in 2022, after plummeting in the previous two years as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to global crisis, the inbound tourism spending in the European country showed an overall steady increase to more than 70 billion euros in 2019.

According to the data from UNWTO, there were almost 8.5 million tourist departures (including same-day and overnight visitors) from Spain to other countries in 2021. The number of outbound tourist departures from Spain declined by roughly 73 percent in 2020 after a steady increase since 2014.

The contribution of the tourism sector to the total employment in Spain in 2022 and 2023 was above 11 percent, increasing in comparison to the previous two years. However, those figures were still below pre-pandemic levels.

In 2022, the number of French tourists visiting Spain increased from over 5.8 million to approximately 10.1 million. France is, along with Germany and the United Kingdom, one of the leading source markets for tourism in Spain.

The United States has been the principal country of residence of international tourists from the Americas in Spain since the mid-2010s. In 2022, more than 3.8 million U.S. residents visited the European nation. The country with the second-highest number of international tourists was Mexico, with around 984 thousand residents from the Central American country having visited Spain that year. Spain: a global destination Many people come to Spain for its warm climate and sandy beaches. In 2022 Spain received over 104.6 million international tourists, and those same tourists spent nearly 70 billion euros throughout the country. The total expenditure of international tourists in Spain peaked in 2019 at 71.2 billion euros, and the total number of international tourists in Spain peaked that same year at over 126 million. What is the leading European source market for inbound tourism in Spain? Most of the leading source markets for inbound tourism in Spain are based in Europe. In 2022, the top source market for international tourism in Spain was the United Kingdom. Over 15 million residents of the UK took a trip to the Iberian country that year. Meanwhile, that figure was nearly 10.1 million for residents of France.

The share of the tourism sector over Spain's gross domestic product (GDP) jumped to 12.3 percent in 2023, reaching almost pre-pandemic levels. At the beginning of the 2010s, tourism accounted for over 10 percent of the Spanish economy.

The number of international tourists visiting Spain for business or professional reasons in 2023 increased to 4.83 million, That same year, the expenditures of domestic and foreign business travelers accounted for 11 percent of the total tourism spending in Spain.