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• Tourist numbers and spending are expected to reach record highs
• The popularity of the Spanish coast in summer is accompanied by the search for new destinations and the interest in enjoying experiences and activities.

According to Dataestur's forecasts, Spain expects to hit record high figures this summer of 2025. International tourist arrivals are expected to increase by 2.7% and their spending by over 4% between July and August. Meanwhile, domestic travel across Spain and national tourist spending is expected to grow by around 1%.

The supply of seats for travel to Spain accompanies this forecast and the data available on Dataestur point to an increase in air capacity of around 5% for July and August for flights from international origins.

The forecast for Spain is in line with the latest estimate of UN Tourism for this year, updated in the last week of May, which indicates a growth in international tourism of between 3 and 5 % for the northern hemisphere as a whole. 45% of the group of experts forecasts a better (40%) or much better (5%) outlook for this summer when compared to 2024. In addition, they underline how tourists lately try to find the best offers and value for money and their interest in nearby destinations and shorter trips. Moreover, Turespaña's source tourist market trend reports maintain Spain's leadership in key source markets such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the Netherlands.

These figures could also have an effect on the labour market in the tourism sector. According to Randstad's forecasts, 700,000 contracts will be closed this summer, with an increase of 9% compared to the previous summer.

Around 85% of tourists arriving in Spain are Europeans ^|1|. They are planning longer trips this summer (more than 40% expect to stay longer than a week) and with a higher budget than in 2024 (30% expect to spend more than 1,500 €), according to the latest monitor on travel in Europe published by the European Travel Commission (ETC, the umbrella organisation for Europe's national travel agencies and organisations).

Overall, the ETC reports that 72% of Europeans intended to travel between April and September and 61% plan to make more than one trip. Spain is the most popular destination and the country where most tourists will return during these months (around 19%). In the leisure travel category, Spain continues to appear in the top 3, although it falls by 8% compared to 2024.

In relation to the concentration of travel, it points out that only 29% of Europeans will wait until July and August for their holidays and June emerges as the preferred month for 21%. It also identifies a growing interest in destinations with mild or less extreme temperatures.

Other data of interest in the report include:

• Almost 1 in every 4 Europeans plans a sun and beach holiday and, of these, 25% plan to spend most of their budget on food and drink.
• 37% of Europeans would like to visit more than one destination in the same country.
• The two main tourist source markets that choose Spain as their destination (the United Kingdom and Germany) stand out as the markets that choose the most popular tourist destinations.

Dataestur's estimate places the United Kingdom as the main issuer with a slight growth of 0.5% in tourist arrivals and expenditure for this summer. In addition, Spain is the main destination in terms of travel intention and consideration (according to the summer trend report by Turespaña and the ETC monitor). Even so, the Turespaña publication points to a small drop since 2024 and a forecast increase of 10% in domestic travel for these months. Meanwhile, the ETC indicates that the majority of trips will be with family (38%) or as a couple (32%), while solo travel falls by 4% compared to last year and would only account for 12%.

Spain also remains the leader in Google searches for international travel from the UK. Between March and May 2025, interest in Spain is growing compared to markets such as the United States, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey.

There are many Spanish destinations that appear among the most popular in the travel intentions of the British. For example, TripAdvisor ranks three in the top 10: Benidorm (2), Barcelona (4) and Lanzarote (9). It also singles out three others as having increased in interest the most this year: Costa Calma (Fuerteventura), Puerto de Sóller (Mallorca) and Arguineguín (Gran Canaria). The above Summer Travel Index UK data also highlights that 85% of British people plan to travel this summer, showing a high interest for tours and travel experiences. According to the report, 57% plan to do between three and five trips, highlights being cultural and other theme-based activities, outdoor activities and boat tours.

For its part, Skyscanner also highlights several Spanish destinations among those preferred by the British: Málaga (1), Alicante (3), Palma (8), Ibiza (10) or Tenerife (15). It also recommends Santander as a destination for those travelling in September, outside the high season. The search engine also identifies the week of 7-13 July as the cheapest week to fly from the UK and Saturday as the cheapest day.

According to Dataestur's forecasts, France will be the second largest tourist source market this summer, with an increase of around 2.5% in tourist arrivals and spending. According to YouGov data collected in Turespaña's summer market trend report , Spain would be the top destination in terms of travel intention and consideration for these months, ahead of Italy, which led in 2024.

Visiting a neighbouring country would be the most common intention (33%) of the French, closely followed by domestic travel (32%), according to the ETC's monitor. In addition, it identifies a significant growth in the interest of French tourists in visiting non-neighbouring countries (which stands at 20%). According to the ETC sample, Spain would be the second European destination for the French (after Italy) and would also fall by 3% in travel intentions. Meanwhile, among French travellers, there was a 4% increase in solo trips, which now account for 13% (still a long way behind trips with a partner -33%- or family trips -30%).

Spain is also the most searched country as an international destination from France for flights and accommodation on Google. In addition, it widens its lead over almost all competitors compared to 2024.

Spain stands out as a destination suggested for travel outside the high season as an international recommendations for tourists coming from France. Skyscanner recommends especially for June places like Santander, Menorca, Valencia or Fuerteventura. In addition, the search engine identifies the week of 25 August to 1 September as the cheapest week to travel from France and Saturday as the cheapest day.

Germany would be the third greatest source of tourists this summer and, according to Dataestur's forecasts would reach a record 2.5 million tourists travelling to Spain between July and August. This would mean an increase of around 2% in travellers and a more pronounced increase in expenditure, exceeding 5%. Turespaña's market trends report highlights a slowdown in online bookings in the previous months and places Spain behind Italy in the intention and consideration of summer travel, where it has also fallen slightly from 2024.

For its part, the ETC monitor places Spain as the leading European destination in terms of travel intentions from Germany, although with figures very close to those of Austria, France and Italy.  In addition, the ETC identifies a drop of up to 6% in domestic travel intentions (21%) far behind plans to visit a neighbouring country (35%).  Although family travel is still the most popular option (31%), couple travel would increase significantly to over 25%.

In Google searches for flights and accommodation, Spain does lead by far in search interest in the months leading up to the summer. In fact, it widens the gap with most competitors compared to 2024, with the exception of Italy.

As is the case with the other major tourist source markets, Skyscanner lists several countries among the most popular from which tourists travel to Spain: Palma (2), Barcelona (11) and Malaga (12). It also recommends Castellón de la Plana and Asturias as holiday destinations beyond the high season of July and August. In this market, he identifies the week of 30 June to 7 July as the cheapest week to travel and Thursday as the cheapest day.

The estimate of Dataestur for July and August places the United States as the main distant source market and puts the number of potential tourists at close to one million. This would be an increase of close to 10% in passenger arrivals compared to 2024 and would lead to a small increase in spending. However, average spending per tourist could fall by around 6%.

The YouGov data in Turespaña's summer market trends report places Spain as the fifth most popular destination for US travellers (1.8%) in terms of travel intentions for this summer, behind the UK and Italy (where travel intentions are twice as high), France and Germany. In terms of travel intentions, Spain would be the fourth destination, ahead of Germany. The report also includes data from "The State of the American Traveller" survey, which indicates Americans' intention to travel internationally in June (26%), July (24%) and August (22%). In terms of connectivity, increases of 11% in frequencies and 8% in seats between the United States and Spain are expected.

In Google searches for flights and accommodation for international travel from the United States, Spain appears as the 9th destination worldwide and 4th in Europe in terms of interest. Among the latter, it is the second fastest growing in search interest (behind only Italy).

Barcelona seems to stand out as a destination in Spain for Americans. This is the only city to appear in the top 20 in Google search interest, ranked 14th in the world and 5th in Europe. Moreover, Skyscanner and TripAdvisor's US Summer Travel Index highlights it as one of the most popular holiday destinations for US tourists.

The TripAdvisor report also includes Puerto Rico beach on the island of Gran Canaria as one of the destinations where interest has increased the most. It also highlights the active profile of this tourist, with a high interest in activities and experiences, which means that 89% plan to carry out up to 5 activities at the destination.

This summer, Spaniards will travel considerably less than in 2024 within Spain (up to 9%) and will have as their first travel intention visiting a neighbouring country (32%), according to data from the ETC's European travel monitor. Domestic travel would fall to second place in travel intentions to 31%.

Travel is mainly with a partner (39%) or family (34%) and solo travel accounts for only 10%. The priorities for spending would be accommodation (27%) and food and beverage (24%) and the top 5 destinations in Europe would be France (9%), Italy (8%), Portugal (7%), Germany (7%) and Greece (5%).

Skyscanner also conducts its Smart Summer survey for Spain and identifies the week of 28 July to 3 August as the cheapest week to travel and Monday as the cheapest day.

Searches for flights and accommodation for international travel from Spain also indicates a decrease in interest compared to 2024. The map shows the 20 countries with the highest search interest on Google in the last two months. In that period, increases are only significant in distant destinations such as China and Japan, where search interest is growing by 50-75%. Even so, they remain far from the top travel options for Spaniards.

1. Year 2024. Data from Frontur.