Spain Eyes a Historic Easter for Tourism With Record Visitor Spending
Rosana Morillo, the Secretary of State for Tourism, has predicted a landmark Easter period for Spain’s tourism sector and a record level of tourist expenditure. She indicated that during March and April, Spain could welcome 14 million visitors, a 16 percent rise compared with the previous year, based on government projections. Specifically, around 6 million tourists are expected in March, up from 5.2 million in March 2023, and approximately 8.6 million in April, about 1.4 million more than last April.
Morillo spoke during the event titled Perspectives for the Spanish hotel sector, organized by Prensa Ibérica in collaboration with Barceló and PwC. She believes that tourism spending could reach around 19 billion euros, representing a 24 percent increase over the same period last year.
These figures reinforce the tourism sector as the leading pillar of Spain’s economy, accounting for about 13 percent of GDP and continuing to drive employment. Social security registrations tied to tourism are expected to grow by roughly 5 percent compared with the previous year, with close to 2.6 million workers now connected to the industry. Passenger demand for international direct flights during the Holy Week and Easter period stands at 4.38 million seats, a 5.2 percent rise from the same period in 2023.
Morillo underscored that the key to Spain’s tourism success lies in the close collaboration between public administrations and business leaders. She emphasized that public policies must support sustainability and address sector challenges such as attracting talent, digitalization, and combatting tax fraud.
To confront these challenges, the European Parliament approved regulations on tourist rentals aimed at curbing vacation platform activity, alongside the Travel Packages Directive. Spain’s government has also launched a draft law focused on preventing food waste and losses. She expressed a desire for Spain to become the first EU member country to test the tourist rentals regulation.
Morillo highlighted the value of Spain’s infrastructure in continuing to attract visitors. She noted recent conversations with tourism ministers from Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The Egyptian minister outlined a 2025 objective of 400,000 hotel beds, a figure smaller than what the Balearic Islands offer. In contrast, Saudi Arabia has 20 fewer airports than Spain, illustrating the varied scale of regional tourism infrastructure around the world.
Overall, the government remains confident that Spain can sustain momentum in tourism by combining strong infrastructure with policies that promote sustainability and responsible growth. The upcoming Easter holidays are positioned as a critical milestone in validating these expectations, with expectations of robust tourist activity and continued positive economic spillovers for related industries.