International tourist spending exceeded 34 billion euros in the first four months of the year, up 9.3% on 2024

The first four months of 2025 once again produced historic figures for international tourists and spending in Spain. According to data published by the National Statistics Institute (INE), total spending by international tourists exceeded 34 billion euros up to April, representing an increase of 9.3% compared to the same period in 2024. Likewise, the number of international tourists arriving in Spain in the first four months of the year was 25.6 million, an increase of 7.1% compared to the same period of the previous year.

By spending, in the first four months of 2025, the United Kingdom was the country with the highest cumulative amount (16.1% of the total), followed by Germany (13.1%) and France (8.1%). The autonomous communities with the highest accumulated spending were the Canary Islands (25.6% of the total), Catalonia (16.6%) and the Community of Madrid (15.8%).

In terms of visitors, the main source countries in the first four months of the year were the United Kingdom (with more than 4.7 million and an increase of 6.7%), France (with almost 3.4 million and an increase of 8.3%) and Germany (with more than 3.3 million, an increase of 4.8%).

Significant growth in spending in April

Specifically, 8.6 million foreign tourists arrived in Spain in April, spending more than 10.82 billion euros. In year-on-year terms, both spending (+14.1%) and arrivals (+10.1%) grew.

In the fourth month of the year, moreover, each visitor spent an average of 1,264 euros, an annual growth of 3.7%, and the average spend per day grew by 0.9% to 187 euros. The majority of tourists - almost 4.5 million - stayed between four and seven nights, with an annual increase of 13.6%.

Portugal, the fastest growing market

In April, the United Kingdom was the leading source country of visitors, with 1.6 million visitors and a 11.1% increase compared to the same month last year. In terms of spending at destination, UK citizens spent 1.768 billion euros in Spain in March, 11.5% more than in the same month in 2024.

In second place was Germany with 1,291,713 tourists arriving in April. This represents a YoY increase of 13.7%. Spending by German tourists amounted to 1.602 billion euros, 14.4% higher than in the same month of the previous year.

Visitors from France grew by 10.5% compared to April 2024, with 1,253,664 international tourists spending 978 million euros, an increase of 14.7%.

Of particular note this month was the growth in Portugal, which increased by 37.1% year-on-year (297,647 international tourists).

Catalonia, top destination in April

In terms of autonomous community, Catalonia was the main destination for tourists in April, with 20.3% of the total. It was followed by Andalusia (16.2%) and the Balearic Islands (15.8%).

A total of 1,739,724 million foreign tourists arrived in Catalonia, 3.3% more than in April 2024. Andalusia was the region with the highest growth in visitor numbers in relative terms, up 15.5% to 1,388,579. Finally, the Balearic Islands saw 1,357,216 visitors, up 13.4%.

In terms of spending, the main destination autonomous communities with the greatest weight in tourist spending in March were Catalonia (with 18.4% of the total), the Canary Islands (17.8%) and Andalusia (15.9%).

Spending by tourists increased by 10% year-on-year in Catalonia, to 1.997 billion euros, by 15.2% in the Canary Islands, with 1.925 billion euros, and by 17.2% in Andalusia, with a total of 1.717 billion euros.

Non official translation