Spain welcomed more than 58.1 million international visitors in the first 7 months of 2026. According to INE data, this figure increased by 4.6% compared with the same period last year. The United Kingdom ranked first with 11.5 million tourists, while the numbers of visitors from France and Germany were approximately 7.2 million and 6.9 million, respectively.
Spain welcomed 11.5 million tourists in July alone, with the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Andalusia the most popular regions. According to research by Deloitte and Google, the country could overtake France in 2040 to become the world’s most visited country, with 110 million foreign tourists.
Why it matters
The data shows that the growth of Spain’s tourism sector is driven by visitors from several key markets and their concentration in certain regions. While demand from the United Kingdom, France and Germany is among the main factors shaping overall tourism flows, the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Andalusia stand out as the domestic centers of this concentration. From the perspective of tourism policy and regional planning, this distribution requires visitor flows to be monitored not only by total numbers but also by countries of origin and destinations. The long-term scenario presented by the Deloitte and Google research is not a direct result of the current data but rather a projection contingent on the continuation of today’s trend; therefore, the main open question is whether the growth will prove sustainable.