Tourism breaks records: the arrival of foreigners grows by 3.5% in the first half of the year

BarcelonaThe arrival of foreign tourists in Catalonia has not slowed down despite many voices indicating that the peak has been reached and advocating for a change in model. In the first half of 2026, 9.57 million foreign visitors arrived in Catalonia, a figure that is 3.5% higher than in the same period last year, according to data published this Monday by the National Statistics Institute (INE).

The number of foreign tourists who arrived in Catalonia between January and June this year is an absolute record, far exceeding the best figures before the covid-19 pandemic. In fact, in 2019, before the arrival of the coronavirus, between January and June, 8.90 million foreign tourists were registered in Catalonia. In 2021, a low was reached with less than one million tourists in the first half of the year, and since then the figure has not stopped growing year after year.

And while the number of foreign tourists continues to grow, the money they spend in Catalonia during their stay increases even more. According to INE data, tourists have spent 11,811 million euros in Catalonia between January and June, 11.68% more than the previous year. That is, more tourists are arriving and their spending is greater. This is due to two factors. On the one hand, a slight increase in the daily spending by tourists, which in June exceeded 217 euros per day, and, on the other hand, also an increase in the average duration of the trip. In fact, in June, the stay of foreigners in Catalonia lasted more than five days on average.

Furthermore, the data for June show an acceleration in the arrival of foreign tourists and the spending they made. Thus, Catalonia registered in June an increase of 1.4% in the number of international tourists compared to the same month last year, reaching a total of 2,023,505 visitors, and it was the second main destination within Spain, with 20.8% of the total, behind the Balearic Islands (23.3%) and ahead of Andalusia (15.7%).

Likewise, it was the second community with the highest tourist spending in June, concentrating 20.1% of the total in Spain, only behind the Balearic Islands (21.8%) and ahead of Andalusia (14.6%). The average spending per tourist in Catalonia stood at 1,298 euros, 3.6% more than a year earlier, although below the Spanish average, which was 1,393 euros. For its part, the average daily spending in Catalonia reached 230 euros in June, 5.4% more than in June 2025, compared to the average of 211 euros in Spain, where this indicator increased by 0.7%.

At the state level, Spain received almost 46.6 million foreign visitors during the first six months of the year, 4.6% more than in the same period of the previous fiscal year. The total spending of international tourists stood at 63,800 million euros in the first half of the year, representing an increase of 7% compared to the same period of the previous year. In June alone, 9.7 million international tourists arrived in the country, spending 13,579 million euros, 4% more year-on-year.

The communities that received the most tourists in the first half of the year were Catalonia (9.6 million and an increase of 3.5% compared to the same period in 2025), the Canary Islands (7.8 million and -0.6%) and Andalusia (7.3 million and +7.9%). Regarding spending between January and June, the Canary Islands (with 18.6% of the total), Catalonia (18.5%) and the Community of Madrid (15.7%) had the highest accumulated spending.

In these first six months of 2026, the United Kingdom was the country with the highest accumulated spending, concentrating 17% of the total, compared to Germany (11.7%) and France (7.4%). In terms of visitors, the main issuing countries in the first semester were the United Kingdom, with more than 9.9 million and an increase of 4.3%; Germany, with almost 5.7 million and a decrease of 1.1%, and France, with about 5.6 million and an increase of 1%.

Less hotel, more apartment

According to INE data, hotel accommodation fell by 1.7%, while rental housing grew by 10.1%. Non-market accommodation increased by 26.8%. The INE distinguishes between market accommodation, meaning that which is paid for such as hotels, apartment rentals, camping, rural houses and others, and non-market accommodation, such as owner-occupied housing, housing of family or friends, or others that fall outside of usual transactions.

The majority stay among tourists in the State was between four and seven nights, with almost 4.9 million and an annual increase of 1.9%. The number of visitors increased by 11.3% among those who do not stay overnight (excursionists), while it fell by 6.9% among tourists with longer stays (more than 15 nights).

Almost 7.1 million tourists traveled without a package tour in June, up 2.7%. With a package tour, nearly 2.7 million arrived, up 3.3%.