Overnight stays in non-hotel tourist accommodations across Spain, including apartments, campsites, rural tourism properties, and hostels, reached 5.9 million in November, up from 5.3 million in the same month of 2021, reflecting an 11.9 percent rise according to data from the National Institute of Statistics. The growth was supported by a 3.5 percent increase in overnight stays by resident travelers and a 16.3 percent rise in stays by non-residents. The average length of stay hovered around 4.5 nights per traveler.
Overnight stays in Spanish non-hotel accommodations for the first eleven months of 2022 rose by 53.2 percent compared with the same period the year prior. INE data show that cumulative overnight stays in campsites, rural hospitality, and hostels through November exceeded the 2019 levels. In total, resident travelers accounted for 1.8 million overnight stays, EU residents totaled 2.2 million, and visitors from other parts of the world reached 1.7 million.
Increasing overnight stays in apartments
In November, overnight stays in tourist apartments rose by 12.9 percent versus November of the previous year. Residents increased by 2.9 percent, while non-residents grew by 16.1 percent. The statistics institute notes that the average stay shortened by two percent to 5.6 nights per traveler.
During November, 32.3 percent of apartment listings were occupied, up 11.5 percent from November 2021. Weekend occupancy climbed 11.7 percent to 36.3 percent. Non-resident stays accounted for 77.8 percent of all overnight stays in these apartments. The United Kingdom led as the main outbound market with 946,622 stays, followed by Germany with 393,882 stays.
Canarias remains the favored destination for apartments with over 2.1 million overnight stays, up 13.8 percent from November 2021, and it posted the highest occupancy rate at 82.3 percent of available apartments. Tenerife emerged as the top island within this segment with 721,422 overnight stays, while Lanzarote achieved the highest occupancy at 84.5 percent. The towns with the most overnight stays in November were San Bartolomé de Tirajana, Arona, and Tías.
Overnight stays in campsites increased by 8.1 percent
In November, overnight stays at campsites rose by 8.1 percent from November 2021, with domestic residents up 6.2 percent and non-residents up 9.2 percent. Across the month, 38.3 percent of available plots were occupied, a rise of one percentage point from the previous year. Weekend occupancy reached 40.4 percent, up 3.1 percentage points year on year. Non-resident travelers made 65.9 percent of all campsite stays, with Germany representing 34.6 percent of the non-resident share, 17.1 percent higher than in November 2021.
Valencia Community stood out as a preferred camping region with 579,838 overnight stays, a 6.8 percent annual increase, and the highest occupancy level at 59 percent of plots offered. The white coast area, including Alicante, recorded 302,390 overnight stays and the highest occupancy rate at 76.4 percent of plots offered. Major tourism spots for overnight stays included Benidorm, Cartagena, and Cabanes.
Rural accommodation falls
The only drop among non-hotel accommodations in November came from rural tourism, which fell by 2.8 percent year on year. Residents decreased by 2.2 percent and non-residents by 5.6 percent. Within rural tourism accommodations, 12.2 percent of places were occupied, down 3.4 percent from November 2021. Weekend occupancy stood at 29.2 percent, down 2.9 percent.
Castilla y León emerged as the leading rural destination with 102,976 overnight stays, a 4.3 percent increase from November 2021. The Canary Islands reported the highest occupancy rate with 35.1 percent of places offered. Across the islands, Majorca led in overnight stays with 24,729, while Corona Forest Nature Park achieved the highest occupancy rate at 41 percent of places offered.
Hostels showed a strong performance
Hostels recorded 333,449 overnight stays in November, up 58.5 percent from the previous year. Residents accounted for a 20.4 percent rise, while non-residents surged by 113.5 percent. Overall, 19.1 percent of hostel spaces were occupied, with a weekend occupancy rate of 25.7 percent, up 26.1 percent year on year. The Madrid region dominated hostel stays with 79,299 overnight stays and posted the highest occupancy rate at 62.7 percent of places offered.
Pricing signals and overall growth
INE also released price indicators for this accommodation segment. The Tourist Apartment Price Index rose by 6.7 percent, the Camping Price Index increased by 4.4 percent, and the Rural Tourism Price Index climbed by 3.8 percent in November 2021 to November 2022. Overall, overnight stays across all Spanish mass tourist accommodations—hotels, apartments, campsites, rural tourism properties, and hostels—grew by 16.3 percent year on year in November. Residents rose by 12.5 percent and non-residents by 18.7 percent.
Average stays and distribution
The average length of stay edged up by a small margin, reaching 3.1 nights per traveler as reported by INE. In collective tourist accommodations, hotels represented 74.8 percent of total overnight stays, while non-hotel options accounted for 25.2 percent. The principal markets for organized tourist stays included the British, who accounted for 24.3 percent of all non-resident overnight stays, Germans at 16.9 percent, and French at 6.5 percent.
The Canary Islands continued to be the top destination with more than 7.7 million overnight stays, up 11.1 percent from November 2021. Andalusia followed with over 3.4 million stays, up 14.5 percent, and Catalonia with more than 2.9 million stays, up 29.5 percent year over year.
Source attribution: INE data.