Tourism in Spain
Tourism in Spain is a major component of the national economy. In 2024, domestic and international tourism combined accounted for 12.6% of Spain’s GDP. The characteristic tourism branches generated more than 2.7 million jobs, representing 12.3% of total employment. The international tourist expenditure in 2024 was around 126 billion euros. Since 1959, the tourism industry has become one of the key sectors of the Spanish economy. The country has been a popular destination for summer holidays, especially with large numbers of tourists from the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, the Benelux, and the United States, among others. Accordingly, Spain's foreign tourist industry has grown into the second-biggest in the world.
In 2024, Spain was the second most visited country in the world, recording around 94 million international tourists, which marked the eighth consecutive year of record-breaking numbers.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, only 18.9 million tourists visited Spain. These dramatic figures were devastating for the tourism sector and were a reflection of what would become the worst year for this industry, in terms of income, ever recorded. However, by 2022 the industry had mostly recovered, with 71,659,281 international tourists and increasing.
Spain ranks first among 140 countries in the biannual Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index published by the World Economic Forum in 2019, matching the top position already achieved in 2017 and 2015. The World Tourism Organization has its headquarters in Madrid.
Arrivals
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Most visitors arriving to Spain on a short-term basis were from the following countries:
| Rank | Country | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |||
| 1 |  United KingdomTransportSpain's national airline is Iberia, but the country can be flown into on many international passenger airlines and charter airlines.Tourists also arrive in Spain by road, rail and over the water. Spanish freeways interconnecting the touristic cities are also linked with the French freeway network across the Pyrenees. The main train operator is Renfe, including AVE or Talgo intercity services. Spain's high-speed rail link is the largest in Europe and second largest in the world after China. There is also a number of high-end tourism oriented hotel-train services, such as Transcantábrico. Summer resorts and beachesThis type of tourism was the first to be developed in Spain, and today, generates the most income for the Spanish economy.The mild climate during the whole year and the extensive sandy beaches of the Mediterranean and Atlantic Ocean as well as of its two archipelagoes have been attracting tourists from Northern Europe for decades. The leading source markets of Spanish beach tourism are the UK, Germany and France, followed by Scandinavia and Italy and the Netherlands. The most popular Spanish mainland coasts are on its Mediterranean side, and include, from north to south clockwise:
Spain's two archipelagoes, the Balearic Islands off the mainland coast in the Mediterranean and the volcanic Canary Islands in the Atlantic, are also both very popular destinations with Spaniards and Europeans.
In addition to the summer tourism, other modalities like cultural and monumental tourism congresses, sport or fun tourism have been developed in these areas, including such famous cities as Barcelona and Valencia, the biggest harbours of the Spanish Mediterranean coast. Many coastal or island places also have great ecological and natural importance. Theme Parks like Terra Mítica, Tibidabo Amusement Park, Tivoli World and the resort PortAventura World or diverse water-fun parks are also popular. In 2014 Spain broke its own record of blue flag beaches, achieving 681 flags and becoming the leader in the Northern Hemisphere. Spain is also the leader in blue flags for marinas. Cultural tourism, business tourismAs a crossroads of several civilisations, Spain offers a number of historical cities and towns. Major destinations include Spain's two largest cities: Madrid and Barcelona, which stand as two of the leading city destinations in Europe. Both offer a matchless number of attractions and their importance in commerce, education, entertainment, media, fashion, science, sports and arts contribute to their status as two of the world's major global cities.Fifteen Spanish cities have been declared World Heritage Cities by the UNESCO: Alcalá de Henares, Ávila, Baeza, Cáceres, Córdoba, Cuenca, Ibiza, Mérida, Salamanca, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Santiago de Compostela, Segovia, Tarragona, Toledo and Úbeda. As of October 2016, Spain has 45 total sites inscribed on the list, third only to Italy and China. Of these 45 sites, 40 are cultural, 3 are natural, and 2 are mixed, as determined by the organization's selection criteria. Other first-class destinations are Seville, Granada, Santander, Oviedo, Gijón, Bilbao and San Sebastián. All of them with historical landmarks and a lively cultural agenda. Student programsBesides hosting some of the most renowned business schools in the world such as IE Business School, ESADE or IESE Business School, Spain is a popular destination for students from abroad. In particular, during the 2010–11 academic year Spain was the European country receiving the most Erasmus Programme students.ReligionSpain is an important place for Catholicism. In fact, some of the holiest places for the Catholic Church are in Spain: city of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, the third holiest place after the Vatican City in Rome and Jerusalem. It is also the terminus of the Way of Saint James. Santo Toribio de Liébana, Cantabria is the fourth, followed by Caravaca de la Cruz at the South-East,. These places attract pilgrims and tourists from all over the world.Religion also has found its artistic expression through the popular Holy Week processions, which become important in almost every town, Seville arguably holds some of the most elaborate processions for Holy Week. FestivalsMost festivals turn around patron saints, legends, local customs and folklore. Among the most singular ones stand out the Seville Fair, the Romería de El Rocío in Almonte, Huelva, the world-famous Festival of San Fermin in Pamplona, the Falles in Valencia, the Tomatina in Buñol, Valencia and the Fiestas del Pilar in Zaragoza.The Carnival is also popular all over Spain, but especially in the Canary Islands and Cádiz. There are renowned movie festivals all over the country, the most recognizable being the famous San Sebastián International Film Festival, the Málaga Film Festival, the Seminci, the Mostra de Valencia and the Sitges Film Festival, the world's foremost international festival specializing in fantasy and horror movies. Music festivals includes the Sónar, the FIB, the Festimad, the Primavera Sound, the Bilbao BBK Live, the Monegros Desert Festival and the SOS 4.8 Festival. Several cities have hosted international events: the 1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition, the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition, the 1992 Summer Olympics, all in Barcelona, the Universal fair of 1992 in Seville, the 2007 America's Cup in Valencia, and the Expo 2008 in Zaragoza. In addition, some Spanish cities have been or will be European Capital of Culture: Madrid in 1992; Santiago de Compostela in 2000, Salamanca in 2002, and San Sebastián in 2016. |