Traveling alone or with children: the new tribe of Catalan tourism

Summer in Catalonia is being painted with new colors. It's no longer just about couples with children or groups of friends, a growing wave of single travelers and single-parent families has been transforming the sector for a long time, but little by little. According to Idescat data, the demographic reality is that already in 2021 in Catalonia, 802,800 people lived alone (26.4% of the total households) and 373,500 were single-parent households. These are almost 1.2 million family units looking for a different way to enjoy holidays and leisure, and they are driving a market that is growing annually at a state level. This emergence contrasts with a statistical paradox. Divorce petitions in Catalonia fell by 9.1% in 2025. But the data could be misleading. The decline in marriage has gone from a rate of 5 marriages per 1,000 inhabitants in the 90s, to 3.45 registered in 2024. And the rise of de facto couples (350,200 households in 2021) means many breakups go unnoticed by the courts. Furthermore, factors such as the housing crisis could be slowing down official proceedings, but not the reality of separation.Faced with this scenario, the tourism sector is evolving. From the Catalan Association of Specialized Travel Agencies (ACAVE), it is observed how the single and single-parent family segment has broken old stigmas. It is no longer about people looking for a partner, but rather mature travelers seeking a social experience, identifying with a group, and optimizing costs. It is a specialized market where between 60% and 70% of bookings are made by women, a fact that has even led to the creation of exclusive products for the female audience, whether they are solo travelers or mothers with children. A journey that shows a life changeFor an adult facing parenthood alone, vacation logistics can be a difficult mountain to climb. Initiatives like La Tribu, created by Patricia Moya a decade ago, have gone from Meet-up groups to massive support networks where travel is just an excuse to "bond". Patricia, who has managed this growth especially since the pandemic, maintains that the project is not born out of regret, but out of the need to normalize separation and find willing hands to help when surveillance or emotional support is needed.This new travel culture requires a very specific rhythm and social environment. For example, ACAVE highlights that the growing offer focuses on small groups with facilitators who mix cultural focus with leisure spaces like theme parks. This is what Eduard Martín, separated a year and a half ago, was looking for his 5-year-old daughter in a space like La Tribu: "an environment where she would have children to share with besides me, and I could enjoy little moments" of decompression with other adults. For parents like him, the added value of having monitors on stays on the Costa Brava or in Sort allows that, while the children play, the adults can socialize in a human and organic way, sharing experiences of a life change that, even though painful, becomes lighter in community.“Human contact is vital for mental health.” Carme Garcia Gomila, psychoanalyst doctor of the SEP (Spanish Society of Psychoanalysis), points this out by quoting the renowned psychiatrist Wilfred Bion, according to whom “human beings do not get together to do things, but rather we do things to be together”. If parents are calm and well accompanied, children will also be better, and in these spaces “the whole family, both children and adults, are cared for by a larger entity that helps them to relax and also promotes communication between parents and children.”Although the group is mixed, Laura, who has been participating in La Tribu with her daughter for years, observes a curious dynamic: “Out of 50 families, maybe we are 35 mothers. It's harder for fathers to get involved, but once they do, they become very integrated.” Eduard confirms this from the other side: “Sometimes it's more difficult for the adult than for the children. They integrate right away, but it's harder for the adult to take the step. When you join, it's great, because you end up explaining what happened to you and sharing it.”Garcia describes this process as “liberating and cathartic,” especially because nowadays people are very lonely and their closest networks don’t always know how to handle a breakup. “And if, in addition to taking trips, these groups have continuity afterwards, very strong bonds of friendship are created between parents and children that greatly favor their well-being”. Human contact against digital fatigueBeyond rest, the ultimate purpose of these meetings is emotional identification. As Patricia explains, it's about finding “similar families. You are with your child in a new life and you want to meet people in the same situation”. Perhaps for this reason, when it comes to romantic love, the group maintains a delicate balance. “People avoid it quite a bit, because there are already apps for that and here they try not to complicate things,” points out the organizer. In fact, Laura also emphasizes the importance of preserving this single character to respect the grief and often difficult experiences that many carry in their backpack, and to prioritize human quality and the absence of technology over affective-sexual search. This solidity of the model is what leads Eduard to consider that, even if he had a partner in the future, he would continue seeking this travel format because “it brings a plus that breaks the monotony” of the traditional nuclear family.  “Many divorced people are fleeing dating apps looking for deeper connections and meeting people in a more empathetic environment than in an app or digital platform,” explains Carme Garcia, who highlights these spaces for the possibility they offer to establish broader human contact. “In these cohabitation spaces, the purpose is more open; a relationship can develop, but it is not the specific goal of 'hooking up' that previous 'singles' trips had.” Furthermore, she recalls that there is no need to force new relationships with desperation, since “if a project has gone wrong, you can spend a season alone, with friends, and see what you need”. The children's mirror Ultimately, this shared environment allows children, the main protagonists, to build a space where they can better understand each other among peers and normalize growing up between two homes. And this is, perhaps, the most prized value: "they create their own tribe," says Patricia, a space where they normalize the situation of living with separated parents. Carme Garcia recalls that, moreover, these "tribes" make up for the lack of extended families from before, where many cousins would gather. Now families are smaller, perhaps with a couple of cousins, so sharing spaces with children alike, with single parents, makes them feel they have found their own space. A sector that still looks to the pastDespite the maturity of this demand, they denounce that the hotel sector still drags the burden of the “2+2” model. “That’s why many families look for groups like ours”.  Patricia regrets that many single-parent families feel psychologically out of place in traditional settings where tariffs penalize the single parent with the controversial individual supplement, or forcing them to pay the price of an adult for a child. ACAVE, for its part, points out that some establishments are beginning to offer facilities outside of the high season.The success of these initiatives shows that future tourism in Catalonia is no longer measured solely by overnight stays, but by the ability to generate networks. A model that must be unique and sustainable to adapt to an increasingly less uniform society, and which finds in shared travel the best tool.