These overnight accommodations, including apartments, campsites, rural lodgings and hostels, show a clear recovery in activity. Provisional figures from the National Institute of Statistics indicate that, for the first eight months of the year, Spain’s performance surpassed pre-pandemic levels and exceeded the same period in 2019. In August alone, registrations topped 25.6 million.
Provisional data from Spain’s official statistics agency reveal an 15.1% rise in August compared with 22.2 million in the same month last year.
This surge is mainly driven by an 81.5% jump in overnight stays by foreign visitors for August. Domestic travelers, however, declined by 10.3% during the same month.
Among the 25.6 million overnight stays recorded in August, 14.4 million were by Spanish residents, 7.8 million by visitors from other European Union countries, and 3.4 million from the rest of the world.
The average length of stay for non-hotel accommodations rose to five nights per traveler in August, according to the data.
During the first eight months of the year, overnight stays increased by 68.7% year over year and are back at the 2019 pre-pandemic level.
Accumulated overnight stays from January to August in campsites, rural tourism establishments and hostels exceed 2019 levels, according to the statistics institute.
In August, the Tourist Apartment Price Index rose by 13%, the Campground Price Index grew by 3.0%, and the Rural Tourism Price Index gained 5.4% compared with August 2021.
tourist apartments
Overnight stays in tourist apartments climbed 23.1% in August. While resident stays fell 16.9%, non-resident stays surged 94.5%.
Average stays increased by 3.3% versus August 2021, reaching six nights per traveler. In August, 57.3% of the dormitories offered by tourism offices were occupied, up 15.9% from August 2021. Weekend dormitory occupancy also rose 14% to 59.7%.
Non-residents accounted for 56.8% of overnight stays in tourist apartments. The United Kingdom remained the main export market with more than two million visits, followed by France with over 1.1 million.
In the Canary Islands, apartments drew more than 2.5 million overnight stays, a 56.5% increase from August 2021. Cantabria posted the highest occupancy rate at 90.5% of available apartments.
Costa Blanca emerged as the preferred destination with over 1.4 million overnight stays, while Ibiza-Formentera showed the highest apartment availability occupancy at 89.2%.
Top overnight destinations include Benidorm, San Bartolomé de Tirajana and Arona.
9.8% more in campsites
Overnight stays in campsites rose 9.8% in August year over year. Residents decreased by 6.6%, while non-residents increased by 62.2%.
In August, 59.4% of pitches were occupied, up 3.5% from August 2021. Weekend occupancy reached 62.3%, up 2.5% year over year.
Non-resident travelers accounted for 35.3% of campsite stays. France remained the leading source of non-resident visits with 32.4% of the total non-resident share, up 71.1% from August 2021.
Catalonia stood out as the top camping destination with more than 5.3 million overnight stays, an annual rise of 16.2%. The Basque Country recorded the highest plot occupancy at 79.3%.
According to the tourism regions, Costa Brava held the most overnight stays with over 2.5 million, while Costa Blanca in Alicante reported the highest occupancy rate at 81.3% of plots. Leading overnight spots included Torroella de Montgrí, Mont-Roig del Camp, and Calonge.
They land in rural hostels
Overnight stays in rural tourism accommodations declined by 1.2% year over year in August. Residents rose by 10.4%, while non-residents climbed 50.5%.
Among rural tourism accommodations, 44.3% of beds were occupied, down 3.7% from August 2021. Weekend occupancy stood at 55.2%, down 1.2% year over year.
By region, Castile and León emerged as the top destination with 339,854 overnight stays, 6.0% lower than August 2021. Illes Balears recorded the highest occupancy rate at 71.8% of available dormitories.
For hostels, 983,442 overnight stays were reported in August, up 49.6% year on year. Resident stays rose 7.5%, while non-resident stays jumped 198.3%.
Forty percent of dormitories were occupied, a 40.8% increase from August 2021. Weekend occupancy climbed to 46.9%, up 37.5% year over year.