Ana M. López
Research expert covering travel, tourism and hospitality
Domestic and outbound tourism in Spain - statistics & facts
As a world-renown travel destination, the tourism sector in Spain is often observed from an international perspective, focusing mostly on inbound tourism. However, Spaniards themselves are also important contributors to tourism in their homeland. In 2022, Spanish residents took over 155 million trips within their country borders, which in turn amounted to 50 billion euros in spending – the highest recorded since at least the mid-2010s.
With whom do Spanish domestic tourists prefer to travel?
The Spanish culture is more socially oriented than other European cultures and this shows in the Spaniards’ travel behavior. In 2022, most domestic trips in Spain were taken by people staying at a friend’s or relative’s house, while 35 percent of the trips were motivated by the desire to visit loved ones. In mid-2022, only 12 percent of Spanish survey participants stated that they travel alone for leisure, while two thirds often go on trips with their partners or family.International tourism from Spain
With the fourth largest population in the European Union, Spain was the zone’s seven source market for outbound tourism in 2021, accounting for more than six million trips in total. That was around one trip per three residents of the country. In 2022, France was the top destination for Spanish international tourists.Profile of Spanish international travelers
Overall, Spaniards aged between 45 to 64 years old constituted the group that travels the most in 2022, while half of the total number of trips were taken by residents of the country who hold a higher education degree. But despite the most immediate assumption regarding income, it is the middle-class which accounts for the highest number of tourists in Spain. In that same year, three in ten tourists from Spain lived in a household with a monthly income between 1,500 and 2,499 euros.
