Tourism Trends in Spain: August and Year-to-Date Insights

Overnight stays across tourist accommodations such as apartments, campsites, rural houses, and hostels dropped by 1.6 percent in August. Yet that same month a year earlier had seen prices rise, with increases exceeding 7 percent in campsites. This contrast highlights how pricing moved independently of occupancy in August, reflecting shifting traveler choices and pricing dynamics observed by the national statistics authority.
From January through August, nights consumed rose 3.7 percent compared with the same period in 2022, and by 3.9 percent versus the first eight months of 2019, before the pandemic reshaped travel patterns. The broader trend shows a steady recovery in travel activity since 2020, with 2023 and 2024 continuing to offset earlier declines in some segments.
Even with a general dip in occupancy in August, price levels continued their climb: apartment stays up 4.6 percent, campsites up 7.2 percent, and country houses up 4.7 percent. These shifts point to an inflationary pattern within the sector, where the cost of staying in key types of accommodations rose while some occupancy figures softened.
Last August, nights spent by residents fell by 2.6 percent while nights by non-residents declined by 0.3 percent, with the average stay across these establishments measuring 4.9 nights per traveler. The data indicate a modest contraction in demand from local guests alongside a slight easing of foreign traveler volumes, contributing to an overall shorter average visit in that period.
Within these sectors, overnight stays in certain circles decreased by 4.5 percent in August. Local residents registered a sharper drop of 5.1 percent than foreigners at 4 percent, and the average length of stay slid 5.2 percent to 5.9 nights per person. The uneven performance across resident and non-resident guests underscores how regional preferences and travel restrictions can shape nightly demand and duration of visits.
In August, tourist apartments reported a 55.1 percent occupancy rate, which was 4.7 percentage points lower than August of the previous year. The weekend occupancy rate stood at 57.8 percent. This pattern mirrors seasonal shifts and a steadier weekend demand that often buffers overall occupancy losses.
Non-residents accounted for 56.3 percent of all overnight stays in tourist apartments. The United Kingdom remained the leading source market with more than 1.8 million stays, followed closely by France with just over a million stays. Such patterns align with long-standing travel corridors, where Northern Hemisphere visitors regularly shape peak-season performance.
The Valencian Community emerged as the most popular destination with more than 2.5 million overnight stays, including 1.6 million along the Costa Blanca, though this marked a 1.8 percent dip from August 2022. The Balearic Islands achieved the highest occupancy rate for apartments at 87.7 percent. The coastal regions continue to attract large visitor volumes, even as occupancy varies by location and month.
Campsites showed resilience, registering a 1.2 percent year-over-year increase in nights spent by travelers, with foreigners contributing a larger share of growth at 2.8 percent. Non-residents represented 36.3 percent of all campsite nights, and the primary campers among residents were French visitors, particularly favoring Catalonia along the Costa Brava. This signals ongoing cross-border vacation trends within Europe and playfully hints at cross-regional appeal for campsite holidays.
Rural houses saw overnight stays fall by 2 percent in August, though the decline was uneven: resident stays dropped 4.9 percent while non-residents rose 7.8 percent. Overall, 42.6 percent of rural house places were occupied. The mixed performance reflects how rural lodging can deviate from urban-adjacent trends, offering alternate appeal to different traveler groups.
Castilla y Le?n stood out as a favored destination with nearly 340,000 nights stayed, yet the Balearic Islands achieved the highest occupancy at 74.8 percent of available places. These contrasts emphasize how regional draw and capacity utilization shape monthly results.
Hostels posted 977,886 overnight stays in August, reflecting a year-on-year drop of 0.3 percent. Domestic residents declined by 10.6 percent, while foreign residents increased by 13.5 percent. The data also indicate a contraction in the average length of stay across this segment, signaling shifts in budget-conscious travel and short-stay patterns.
When hotels are included with these accommodation types, total overnight stays edged up by 0.2 percent on an annual basis in August, with residents down 3.4 percent and foreigners up 3.2 percent. The small overall rise masks a more nuanced mix of demand across lodging classes, with foreign visitors driving much of the growth.
Across mass tourist accommodation, hotels accounted for 64.7 percent of total overnight stays, while non-hotel tourist accommodations represented 35.3 percent. The main source markets within the regulated group of tourist facilities were English-speaking travelers at 24.4 percent of non-resident overnight stays, followed by French at 15.4 percent and German at 14.1 percent, according to the latest tourism statistics issued by the national statistics authority.
Catalonia remained the top destination with more than 15.8 million overnight stays, followed by the Balearic Islands with 12.9 million and Andalusia with 10.5 million. These figures reflect the ongoing appeal of coastal and cultural hubs across the country, as reported by the national statistics office. [National Statistics Authority, 2024]