Spain’s Summer Travel: Residents Travel and Spending Rise Sharply in Q3
The third quarter of the year saw Spaniards traveling widely, with total spending reaching 21,026 million euros. Even though the trip count was slightly below the peak seen earlier in the season, this figure marks a 9 percent increase compared with the same period in 2019, before the pandemic. This uptick highlights a recovery in free movement and leisure travel that aligns with the rebound in domestic tourism and closer-to-home trips among residents.
As normal life resumed after the long downturn, most travel began at home within Spain. While international movements did pick up, residents often extended their stays and increased their expenditures when they did travel, reflecting a desire to make the trip worthwhile after periods of restriction. The National Institute of Statistics released these resident tourism figures for the summer, noting a total of 56.76 million trips during the season. This is just shy of the 61.1 million recorded before the crisis and slightly below the prior year by about 0.5 percent.
Within the total, domestic trips accounted for 50.65 million visits, while international journeys rose to 6.11 million, nearly doubling year over year. The data point to a strong impulse toward local exploration, paired with renewed interest in international experiences as borders reopened and travel confidence rose.
Qualitatively, spending by residents surged. In the third quarter, expenditures reached 21,026.5 million euros, up 25.8 percent from the previous year and 9 percent higher than the same period in 2019. This reflects how households allocated more resources to leisure, accommodation, and experiences during the peak travel window. In the first nine months of the year, domestic travel expenditure maintained a robust growth trajectory, rising 25.3 percent compared with the same period a year earlier, while international travel outlays surged by a remarkable 174 percent, underscoring renewed appetite for cross-border trips.
Across the period, total travel spending by residents increased by an average of 62.9 percent. Domestic travel saw a 36 percent rise, whereas travel abroad climbed a striking 229 percent, signaling a broad shift in spending patterns aligned with the recovery of both local and international tourism sectors.
During July to September, over one third of trips were linked to summer vacations, typically lasting more than five nights for reasons other than health, education, or work, according to INE. June alone recorded 23.8 million trips, a 2.5 percent rise from the previous year, yet still below the pre-pandemic level of 25.5 million. The average trip length was 12.4 nights, slightly longer than the 11.9 nights reported in the earlier period.
For accommodation, the largest share remained in the so called no market category, meaning private residences or homes of relatives and friends, which accounted for 31.6 million trips—a decline of about 5 percent from the previous year. In contrast, market accommodations rose by 5.7 percent to 25.1 million, with hotels showing particularly strong growth. Rental housing declined by 2.2 percent, returning to levels seen before the pandemic when market options were more common.
Transportation choices show that 82.6 percent of domestic trips and 82.6 percent of international trips relied on private vehicles, while 56.6 percent of moves were by air, a 114 percent increase. Values in both modes track closely to pre-COVID levels, illustrating a resilient travel pattern returning to normalcy for many Spaniards.
The autonomous communities receiving the most travel activity in the third quarter were Andalusia, Catalonia, and the Valencian Community, accounting for 17.1 percent, 13.3 percent, and 12 percent of the total trips, respectively. In terms of origin, residents from Madrid led the way with 19.4 percent of trips, followed by Catalonia at 17.4 percent and Andalusia at 14.7 percent. When population size is adjusted, Madrid recorded the highest travel rate with 1,650 trips per 1,000 residents, followed by Aragon at 1,619 and Navarra at 1,388. Canary Islands, Extremadura, and Andalusia also showed strong relative travel activity per capita, underscoring regional dynamics in travel participation.