Spain saw a record 58.1 million international tourists arrive between January and July 2026, marking a 4.6% rise compared with the same period in 2025. Tourism revenues generated by these visitors reached €82.05 billion, up 7.8% year-on-year, according to figures from Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE) published in Frontur.
July 2026 alone attracted 11.5 million international tourists to Spain, a 4.6% increase from July 2025. Tourism spending during that month surged by 10.9% to €18.22 billion. The increase in tourism revenues is outpacing growth in visitor numbers, with accommodation, package holidays, and international transport representing the leading expenditure categories.
Leading Source Markets and Visitor Behavior
Among
source countries, the United Kingdom remained Spain’s largest market from January to July 2026, with 11.5 million visitors, a 4.6% rise compared to 2025. France ranked second with over 7.2 million tourists, up 1.2%, while Germany saw a slight decline of 0.5%, receiving approximately 6.9 million visitors. Italy recorded the fastest growth among major markets, reaching 3.5 million tourists, a 10.3% increase.
Visitors from other countries rose 16.9% to 717,000, with their spending increasing by 24.5%. In July, 5.7 million tourists stayed four to seven nights, an 8.7% increase year-on-year. Independent travelers dominated with 8.5 million visitors not using package
holidays, compared with about 3.1 million who travelled on packages.
Regional Tourism Performance
Catalonia remained Spain’s most visited autonomous community with 11.94 million international tourists from January to July 2026, a 2.9% increase. The Balearic Islands hosted 9.16 million visitors, rising 1.8%, while the Canary Islands recorded 9.02 million tourists, a decline of 0.6%. Andalusia also attracted 9.02 million visitors, growing by 8.2%.
Madrid and the Valencian Community showed the strongest growth among major destinations during the first seven months of 2026, with increases of 9.6% and 8.9%, respectively. In July, the Valencian Community welcomed 1.63 million tourists, up 9.5%, and Madrid saw
about 800,000 visitors, an 11% increase year-on-year.
Spain’s Tourism Outlook and Government Policy
Spain set a record with 96.8 million international tourists in 2025 and generated €134.7 billion in tourism revenue, surpassing France’s €77.5 billion despite France receiving 102 million visitors. With arrivals growing at 4.6% through July, Spain could exceed 100 million visitors in 2026, needing only an additional 3.3% growth for the full year.
Tourism Minister Jordi Hereu promotes a policy of “calm growth” focused on increasing the economic value of tourism and redistributing visitor flows across regions, seasons, and diverse tourism types, including cultural and natural attractions.
Long-Term Visitor Projections
A joint study by Deloitte and
Google forecasts Spain could become the world’s most visited country by 2040, hosting approximately 110 million international tourists annually, surpassing France’s projected 105 million visitors. The study aims to help travel operators and distributors anticipate and adapt to future tourism trends in Spain.
