Turespaña has released data showing that Spain has welcomed over 34 million international air passengers in the first five months of this year. This represents a significant increase of 28.8% from last year. It is predicted that the upcoming high season will see tourist arrivals, overnight stays, and spending surpassing even the pre-pandemic levels recorded in 2019.
During May, Spain welcomed over 8.8 million international air passengers, a 13.9% increase from the previous year. This increase was observed across all main source markets, with 55.7% of the total passengers coming from the European Union, up 12.6%, while the remaining 44.3% came from other parts of the world and saw 15.5% growth.
Looking at specific countries, Poland had the highest growth, with 36.4% more passengers than in May 2022, followed by Portugal and Italy, with increases of 24.1% and 22.6%, respectively.
UK Leads in Tourist Arrivals
In May, the United Kingdom provided the highest number of passengers, totaling 2,167,830. This marks a 9.5% increase from the previous year, accounting for 24.6% of total arrivals.
The Autonomous Communities were affected by the arrival of British travelers, specifically the Balearic Islands (25.2% of passengers) and the Canary Islands (21.2% of passengers).
This year, there was a significant increase of 27.2% in the total number of UK passengers (7,439,633) compared to the first five months of 2002.
After the United Kingdom, Germany is the second largest provider of international air passengers. In May, there was a 7.5% increase in passenger arrivals from Germany, making up 14.8% of the total. The Balearic Islands saw the most significant growth, with 45.2% of the total arrivals coming from Germany.
In May, Italy was the third highest source market for passenger arrivals, making up 9% of the total. This is a 22.6% increase from last year and positively impacts tourism in Catalonia (29.9% of passengers) and Madrid (25.8%).
In fourth place was France, with 7.9% of total passengers in May and an increase of 9.8%, mainly benefitting Madrid and Catalonia.
Valencian Community – The Fastest-growing Tourist Region
Out of the six top destinations, the Community of Valencia had the most significant increase in visitors at 19%, followed by Madrid at 16.7% and Catalonia at 15.8%. The six regions with the most visitors (96.8%) saw a collective rise of 13.5%.
Valencia Airport had the highest year-on-year growth, with a 23% increase. Barcelona and Alicante followed with 18.4% and 17.2% growth rates, respectively. Regarding total volume, Barajas had the most international passengers in May, with 1,872,143, while Barcelona Airport had 1,640,439. Palma de Mallorca airport came in third with 1,376,149 international passengers in May.
