Overnight stays in Spanish hotels rose sharply in the first four months of the year, outpacing the same period in 2019. Data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) show that many stays clustered around total expenditures near 105 euros, lifting average room revenue by 8.8% in April.
Across April, hotel occupancy in Spain exceeded 28 million overnight stays, marking an 11.5% rise from April of 2022. The figure also surpassed the 25.1 million recorded in the same month prior to the pandemic, signaling a strong rebound in travel demand.
Residents of Spain accounted for more than 10.7 million overnight stays, representing 38.4% of the total. Non-residents contributed over 17.3 million stays, underscoring Spain’s appeal for international travelers.
INE’s Hotel Tourism Status statistics show the average length of stay in hotels slipped by 1.6% year over year in April, sitting at 2.9 nights per guest.
Andalusia, Catalonia, and the Valencian Community emerged as the top destinations for Spanish residents in April, capturing 19.9%, 14.8%, and 13.2% of total overnight stays respectively.
The Canary Islands remained the leading destination for foreign visitors, accounting for 27.5% of total overnight stays in April. Catalonia and the Balearic Islands followed with 18.7% and 18.0% respectively.
In April, 59.8% of hotel rooms were occupied, up 7.4% year over year. Bed-space occupancy on weekends rose to 66.2%, up 7.8 percentage points. The Canary Islands posted the highest occupancy at 70.3%, followed by the Balearic Islands at 68.1%.
Tourist areas with the strongest occupancy included the south of Tenerife at 75.2% by bed location, while Barcelona led weekend occupancy at 79.8%. Mallorca reported the largest volume of overnight stays in April, exceeding 3.1 million.
Barcelona, Madrid, and Benidorm stood out as the top destinations by total overnight stays. Adeje showed the highest bed occupancy at 79%, with Santanyí achieving the strongest weekend occupancy at 91.5%.
British and German markets remain dominant
British and German travelers continued to lead Spain’s hotel markets. Germans represented 22.1% of overnight stays by travelers from the United Kingdom and 18.3% of non-residents staying in Spanish hotels.
France, the Netherlands, and the United States followed as next-largest source markets, contributing about 10%, 4.7%, and 4.6% of total stays respectively.
The INE also released the annual Hotel Price Index (IPH) for Spain, which showed prices rising by 9.3% in April compared with the previous year. Navarra posted the strongest regional price increase at 15.1%, while Cantabria showed a smaller rise at 1%. Silver-star properties experienced the largest price gains among categories, at 13.4%.
Average spend edges toward 105 euros
The rise in overnight stays went hand in hand with higher hotel earnings. The average daily rate (ADR) for occupied rooms in Spain climbed to 104.9 euros in April, up 8.8% year over year.
The revenue per available room (RevPAR) advanced by 17.9% to reach 70.1 euros, reflecting stronger occupancy and pricing discipline across market segments.
By category, ADR stood at 251.8 euros for five-star hotels, 108.3 euros for four-star properties, and 81.7 euros for three-star hotels. Corresponding room rates were 171 euros, 79.1 euros, and 56 euros respectively.
Marbella led in ADR with an average of 183.3 euros per occupied room, while Barcelona offered the highest RevPAR at 147.6 euros per available room.