Historic record: Catalonia surpassed 20 million foreign tourists in 2025

BarcelonaCatalonia received 20,055,314 foreign tourists in 2025, a record high, according to data published Tuesday by the National Statistics Institute (INE). Last year, however, growth in international tourist arrivals slowed, increasing by only 0.58% compared to the previous year, the lowest increase since the sector began recovering from pandemic restrictions in 2021. These figures are followed by the Canary Islands (15.7 million), Andalusia (14.5 million), the Valencian Community (12.4 million), and Madrid (9.1 million). Nationwide, the country saw the largest increases in international tourist arrivals. Last year, 96.7 million foreign tourists arrived., a figure that is 3.21% higher than the previous year.

Foreign visitors spent a total of €24.807 billion in Catalonia in 2025, a 4.5% increase compared to the previous year. Thus, spending by foreign tourists grew more than the number of visitors, meaning that each tourist spent more during their stay, although the average length of stay in Catalonia decreased. In fact, each tourist spent an average of €221 per day, 4.2% more than the previous year (€211), and stayed an average of 5.59 days, slightly less than the previous year (5.63 days). Across Spain, visitors spent more than €134.7 million. Therefore, spending by foreign tourists in Catalonia accounted for 18.4% of all spending by foreign visitors in Spain. On average, each person spent €1,237 during their stay in Catalonia, which was the region with the highest spending in the entire country, followed again by the Canary Islands (€24.431 billion) and the Balearic Islands (€21.058 billion).

Slowing growth

Since the pandemic, Catalonia has seen five consecutive years of increasing tourist arrivals. After an 80% drop in 2020, the number of tourists rose by 49.5% in 2021, 156.6% in 2022, 22.4% in 2023, and 9.6% in 2024. In 2024, the number of annual tourists surpassed pre-pandemic levels. The 0.58% growth in 2025, therefore, represents a significant slowdown in the growth of international visitors. This slowdown was particularly noticeable in December, when 991,155 international tourists arrived in Catalonia, 7.3% fewer than the previous year. In fact, it was the December with the fewest international visitors in the last three years. In the last month of 2025, overnight stays rose to 7,184,871, a 12.71% year-on-year decrease. Conversely, spending increased by 17.2% compared to the previous December, reaching an average of €184 per person per day. Thus, It is noted that visitors stayed fewer days in Catalonia, but more money was spent.