Spain's visitor numbers hit new highs as tourists avoid Middle East

From the rooftop terrace of a hotel, Fede Fuster looks retired crossed Benidorm, astatine the adjacent high-rise buildings and the town's famous, sweeping beach.

"With each its virtues and its defects this is simply a spot we consciousness arrogant of," helium says. "It's a spot of opportunities."

Fuster is the president of the section tourism association, and his household was 1 of the archetypal to physique a edifice successful this Mediterranean city, successful the 1950s.

Benidorm's colonisation is inactive lone 77,000, but it swells to astir 5 times that fig successful the tallness of summer, owed to its presumption arsenic 1 of Spain's premier tourism draws.

Since the Covid pandemic near resorts similar Benidorm virtually deserted and the Spanish tourism manufacture astatine a standstill determination has been a singular recovery. Foreign accomplishment numbers into the state person breached records each year, and totalled 97 cardinal successful 2025.

Currently the world's second-biggest tourer destination, conscionable down France, Spain is expected to consolidate its caller occurrence successful 2026.

"I deliberation this is going to beryllium a large year," Fuster says. "I'm optimistic, we're talking astir reaching 100 cardinal tourists successful Spain. If we support increasing similar this we're going to beryllium fig 1 [in the world] precise soon."

Industry experts had primitively expected 2026 to spot much humble growth. But the outbreak of the US-Israeli struggle with Iran has made Spain an charismatic alternate compared to Middle Eastern vacation destination Dubai, and countries successful the eastbound Mediterranean, specified arsenic Turkey and Cyprus.

"In these moments of crisis, of [military] strikes oregon wars, the bookings ever increase," says Fuster, who recalls a akin improvement successful 2011, during the turmoil of the Arab Spring, though helium insists helium would similar to vie with different countries without this advantage.

"Any clip that you person a situation successful the [eastern] Mediterranean oregon the Middle East, Spain is seen arsenic a unafraid spot to go," says Francisco Femenia-Serra, a lecturer successful geography astatine Madrid's Complutense University.

He explains that "part of the tourists that would usually spell to Turkey oregon Egypt due to the fact that of the [low] prices, for instance, mightiness extremity up successful Spain".

Spain's authoritative tourer accomplishment figures look to carnivore this out. The state received 9.1 cardinal planetary visitors successful April, a caller precocious for the month. This was 5.2% more, oregon 450,000 further people, than April 2025.

Meanwhile, Dubai International Airport saw its rider numbers drop by 66% successful March arsenic flights and bookings were importantly reduced owed to the Iranian situation.

With tourism straight contributing 13% of Spain's GDP, the manufacture has been a important constituent successful the country's maturation of caller years, which has outstripped that of France, Germany, Italy and the UK.

One unreality connected the skyline is the imaginable interaction of rising substance costs, which could extremity up curtailing Europeans' overseas travel.

The different large interest for the Spanish manufacture is much home - increasing choler among section residents astatine the interaction tourism is having connected their location environments.

"Tourism was ever accepted arsenic a affirmative economical assemblage for Spain," says Femenia-Serra. "That changed from 2016, 2017, with the statement of over-tourism being enactment connected immoderate cities, similar Barcelona.

"And now, astir young Spaniards nether 45 person a antithetic representation of tourism. They spot it arsenic a assemblage that evidently has a affirmative interaction but besides immoderate antagonistic outcomes successful their lives."

Since 2024, Barcelona and galore different tourer hubs, on the Mediterranean coast, successful the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands, person seen summertime protests against perceived excessive visitant numbers.

A Europe-wide YouGov canvass published successful September 2024 recovered that 28% of Spaniards had a negative presumption of overseas tourism, by acold the highest percent of immoderate country. The study besides recovered that two-thirds of Spaniards sympathised with the protests.

Locals' grievances see the congestion caused by visitors successful metropolis centres, their biology interaction and, supra all, the thought that they are exacerbating Spain's lodging crisis. A caller question of protests astatine the country's soaring rentals has begun successful caller weeks, with tourism often intimately associated with the problem.

In a bookshop successful the centre of Valencia, a radical of section tenants conscionable regularly to sermon their housing-related problems with representatives of the Sindicat de Llogateres (Tenants' Union) activistic group. Many of those who be person seen their rentals summation sharply erstwhile landlords person revised their contracts.

"We person connected the 1 manus the tourer accommodation marketplace and connected the different the residential market," says Jordi Vila, a typical of the Sindicat de Llogateres.

"When it comes to renewing rental contracts, the owners of properties nary longer deliberation astir mounting rents according to section salaries, but alternatively the salaries of radical visiting from abroad, which mightiness beryllium 3 oregon 4 times higher. So section radical extremity up getting pushed retired of their homes."

He points to Barcelona, further up the Mediterranean coast, arsenic the epitome of this phenomenon, describing the centre of the metropolis arsenic "a benignant of taxable park" wherever the proliferation of tourer accommodation has displaced locals.

In the bluish portion of Asturias, graffiti has been daubed successful caller days connected vacation rental properties, with the slogan: "Your business, our ruin."

While organisations specified arsenic the Sindicat de Llogateres proceed to campaign, the left-wing conjugation authorities has besides identified tourer accommodation arsenic a problem.

In 2025, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez warned that "there are excessively galore Airbnbs and not capable homes". In December, his authorities fined the vacation rental level €65m ($75.5m; £56m) for advertizing unlicensed apartments.

Local governments person besides announced measures some aimed astatine curbing the maturation of vacation accommodation and managing the ample numbers of tourer arrivals.

Some metropolis halls are restricting the granting of tourist-flat permits, and Barcelona has said it volition revoke the licenses of each its 10,000 short-term apartments by 2028. It has besides announced a doubling of the city's tourer taxation to 8 euros for those arriving connected cruise liners for short-term stays.

Local activists applaud specified measures yet request much beryllium done. The tourism industry, however, is concerned. The Exceltur tourism relation has called for "the reparation of the links betwixt the tourism assemblage and section residents".

The vacation flat sector, meanwhile, has pointed to a study by PwC connected the Barcelona licence-revocation plan, informing it could undermine the city's competitiveness and origin the nonaccomplishment of thousands of jobs.

Femenia-Serra says that cities are inactive searching for satisfactory formulas.

"We person measures that effort to alleviate the interaction that tourism has and that effort to administer tourists successful cities successful a antithetic way," helium says. "But we inactive haven't seen a azygous measurement that is effectual successful reducing the fig of tourists."

In Benidorm, arsenic helium ponders what looks apt to beryllium different record-breaking summertime for Spain, Fede Fuster acknowledges the backlash against his sector.

"We accidental we are the manufacture of happiness," helium says. "But we besides person to realise that we interaction the mean beingness of citizens.

"The mode we invited radical and we attraction astir them and our happiness, the mode we live, I deliberation that's thing the tourer truly appreciates – that's the key," helium explains.

"That's wherefore we person to enactment a batch successful these places, mostly successful cities, wherever determination is simply a feeling of not welcoming tourists. It's precise important for america due to the fact that if we suffer that, we're dead."