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

With tourism directly contributing 13% of Spain’s GDP, the industry has been a crucial component in the country’s growth of recent years, which has outstripped that of France, Germany, Italy and the UK.

One cloud on the horizon is the possible impact of rising fuel costs, which could end up curtailing Europeans’ foreign travel.

The other major concern for the Spanish industry is more domestic – growing anger among local residents at the impact tourism is having on their home environments.

“Tourism was always accepted as a positive economic sector for Spain,” says Femenia-Serra. “That changed from 2016, 2017, with the label of over-tourism being put on some cities, like Barcelona.

“And now, most young Spaniards under 45 have a different image of tourism. They see it as a sector that obviously has a positive impact but also some negative outcomes in their lives.”

Since 2024, Barcelona and many other tourist hubs, along the Mediterranean coast, in the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands, have seen summer protests against perceived excessive visitor numbers.

A Europe-wide YouGov poll published in September 2024 found that 28% of Spaniards had a negative view of foreign tourism,, external by far the highest percentage of any country. The report also found that two-thirds of Spaniards sympathised with the protests.

Locals’ grievances include the congestion caused by visitors in city centres, their environmental impact and, above all, the idea that they are exacerbating Spain’s housing crisis. A new wave of protests at the country’s soaring rentals has begun in recent weeks, with tourism often closely associated with the problem.

In a bookshop in the centre of Valencia, a group of local tenants meet regularly to discuss their housing-related problems with representatives of the Sindicat de Llogateres (Tenants’ Union) activist group. Many of those who attend have seen their rentals increase sharply when landlords have revised their contracts.

“We have on the one hand the tourist accommodation market and on the other the residential market,” says Jordi Vila, a representative of the Sindicat de Llogateres.

“When it comes to renewing rental contracts, the owners of properties no longer think about setting rents according to local salaries, but rather the salaries of people visiting from abroad, which might be three or four times higher. So local people end up getting pushed out of their homes.”

He points to Barcelona, further up the Mediterranean coast, as the epitome of this phenomenon, describing the centre of the city as “a kind of theme park” where the proliferation of tourist accommodation has displaced locals.

In the northern region of Asturias, graffiti has been daubed in recent days on holiday rental properties, with the slogan: “Your business, our ruin.”